


If The World Was Upside-Down...

by lazypolymath



Category: Trollhunters (Cartoon)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Basically everyone in the show, Blinky is always right, Jim is just done, humans live in secret not trolls, no one knows it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-21 19:46:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 66,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14292096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazypolymath/pseuds/lazypolymath
Summary: Humans don't exist. Or at least not anymore. Every sane troll knows that.Except Blinky. But nobody listens to his conspiracies anyways.Their new Trollhunter is rather strange though...In an alternate universe where, back during the war between humans and trolls, humans were almost completely wiped out, Jim is still chosen as the first human Trollhunter. Except this time nobody knows it, and he fully intends to keep it that way for as long as he can. But with Gumm-Gumm activity on the rise, and the threat of Gunmar’s return on the horizon, this is going to be a lot harder than he first thought, even with the help of his friends.





	1. Chapter 1

* * *

 

 

It was such a strange find.

Really, Jim didn’t know what to think of it. He’d found it glowing in a pile of what looked like troll remains, and he could’ve sworn that it said his name. But amulets didn’t talk; that was crazy.

…Right?

Though he was understandably wary of it, for multiple reasons, the amulet just felt so right in his hands. Like a piece of him he hadn’t known he was missing had finally returned. And, you know, it glowed and maybe even spoke, and that was pretty cool.

The longer he stared at the thing, the more he realized there was also something familiar about it. Something he couldn’t quite remember, which only served to make him even more crazy with curiosity, until he eventually gave in and pocketed the thing before continuing on his way.

He was out pretty was early for scavenging. Many might consider it too early, in fact. The sun had only just begun to lighten the horizon when he’d left the colony. The shadows in the forest were still long and dark, perfect for a straggling troll to lurk in.

But Jim considered himself one of the best scavengers his age for a reason. His naturally lithe form was great for discretion and quick escapes. He hadn’t been seen once, though there had been a few close calls. A few people said he was overconfident—and wow, if only—but honestly, how were you supposed to have any time to find something good unless you got a head start?

It was common sense, really. (And only had a little bit to do with the fact that it increased his chances of getting home in time to make dinner for his mom and him.)

Shortly after stumbling upon the amulet, he managed to find some mushrooms that would go great with his meatloaf. He then proceeded to hunt down several herbs and barks his mother was running low on, some wild strawberries, and some herbs that _he’d_ been running low on. A little later, he stumbled on an abandoned spearhead that he could no doubt sell or trade for a good price. He was ecstatic.

It was around mid-noon when he came upon a familiar pathway.

He paused, staring down it as he pictured the place it led to: a city of trolls. It was bright out; he could probably sneak into the Upper City and watch the on goings from the rooftops, completely hidden by the multitude of sunshades required in any half-decent, upper level troll city. The idea was more tempting than it should have been.

But no. He had what he needed, and he’d been trying to cut down his visits lately. It wouldn’t do to expose his entire colony on a whim.

Decided, he turned around and headed home.

 

* * *

 

 

“Dude, what the heck is it?”

Since Jim was back early, he decided to spend his free time with his best friend, Toby. He’d wasted no time pulling out his strange find and asking his friend’s opinion on it.

“I’m not sure. I think it’s some kind of troll artifact. It looks familiar, right?”

“Totally! Oh man, this is so cool!” His best friend wilted suddenly, glumly handing the amulet back. “I wish I could go out and find awesome stuff like this. It’d be way more interesting than tending to nana’s gardens.”

Unlike Jim, Toby worked inside the colony, growing fruits and vegetables to sell and live off of. Since they were neighbors, the two families had long ago established a system of Jim cooking and sometimes scavenging for them in exchange for fresh produce.

“You can still come out with me, if you want.” Jim renewed the offer he’d given Toby probably a thousand times now. Sometimes his shorter friend would take it. Other times, not so much.

“Yeah, but there’s so much walking. And hiking. And running.” Toby pointed out. “We both know I’m not really cut out for that.”

“Nah, you’d be fine. We wouldn’t have to go far.” Jim assured him. “You’ve been on a diet, remember?”

Toby visibly perked up at that. “Yeah! You’re right! Maybe I will then. And I can find my own cool amulet thingy.” Jim grinned and nodded.

“Toby-Pie!” A voice suddenly called from outside, “Come help me pick this fruit! I’m making pie!”

Toby sighed. “Coming nana!” He called out the window, before turning back to Jim. “I gotta go. Get me if does something cool.”

“Sure thing, Tobes.” Jim promised. And at that, his friend was out the door.

 

* * *

 

 

Their Trollhunter had been felled. Even worse, the Amulet of Daylight was missing.

The news spread through Trollmarket like wildfire. Since the amulet was not in Draal’s possession, like everyone had expected, it must’ve been stolen. The whole market was in an uproar. A search for the sacred artifact began almost immediately.

Among those ranks, much to the chagrin of almost everyone, was Blinkous Gladrigal, the conspiracy theorist and scholar himself, and his ex-Gumm-Gumm companion, ARRRGH!!!.

“Listen to me, Vendel. Something’s not right about this whole thing,” Blinky was saying, having finally tracked Trollmarket’s leader down. Honestly, it almost seemed like the old goat was avoiding him, sometimes.

“You say that about everything, Blinkous.” Vendel replied dismissively.

“Well this time it’s true! You can even ask ARRRGH!!!” The large, pacifistic troll, who’d been watching the whole exchange silently, nodded in agreement.

They’d visited the “scene of the crime,” so to speak. By the time they’d gotten there Kanjigar’s remains had already been removed, but ARRRGH!!! had picked up on something strange. Yes, a Gumm-Gumm had been there—and it had most likely been Bular—but something else had been too. Unfortunately, the scent was almost completely smothered from all the trolls entering and leaving the area, so ARRRGH!!! couldn’t discern what it was.

So Blinky had his own theory. The amulet had been taken, certainly, but it wasn’t by the Gumm-Gumm who had killed Kanjigar.

He’d told Vendel as much. Though it really shouldn’t have come as a surprise when the old troll didn’t believe him.

“Honestly, Blinkous, you do this every time!” Vendel finally snapped. “Not everything is a conspiracy! I suppose you believe it was a human that took it too, hm?”

Blinky, well, blinked. He hadn’t actually, but now that Vendel mentioned it… The smell had been odd, what if that _was_ the case…

Vendel must’ve seen the look on his face. “No, no, no! A human did not take the amulet because humans are extinct! Don’t you dare go around spouting nonsense and sounding like the Gumm-Gumms!”

Blinky gasped a tad dramatically, deeply offended. “The—the very insinuation! ARRRGH!!! and I are nothing like those unlearned ruffians! They’re the scum of the earth, I tell you, and you don’t take them seriously enough!”

“I take them just as seriously as I should! They are a bunch of disorganized, outcasted criminals that our Trollhunters past have had no trouble keeping in line—Ah!” Vendel held up a finger, seeing how Blinky was about to interrupt. “Now you listen here, Blinkous. The humans are _extinct_ , the Gumm-Gumms are _not_ planning some terrible revolution and the amulet was _not_ taken by a mysterious third party! You will not go around telling anyone otherwise! Am I clear?”

Blinky huffed. “Yes, but—”

“Good.” Vendel turned and left before Blinky could get in another word edgewise.

 

* * *

 

 

_Earlier that night…_

Jim entered his house, having just returned from bringing his mom dinner. She was going to be back late that night. Again. The amulet sat on the coffee table where he’d left it.

With nothing better to do he picked it up and played around with its dials, absently wondering what the thing was for. He almost had a heart attack when the hands suddenly shifted, all on their own.

Before he could throw the amulet in a panic, however, something drew his attention back in. The inscription on the amulet, it had changed.

Squinting, he turned the amulet in his hand. He hadn’t flipped a switch or anything, he was pretty sure. There didn’t seem to be any switches to flip in first place. With a flash the inscription changed again, and then one last time right before his very eyes. It was in English now.

“For the glory…of Merlin…daylight is mine to command?” He read aloud, understandably confused. “What?”

Then the amulet glowed, and things got really, _really_ weird.

Gravity, for one, decided to mix things up a bit, because any small objects around him began to float. And then _he_ began to float. Several feet off the ground in fact, which was startling enough without all the flashing lights and glinting metal materializing around him from absolutely nothing. He couldn’t help his panicked yelp as the metal pieces suddenly converged on him, and he was trapped within an oversized suit of armor.

He wasn’t allowed to panic too much, thankfully, about how to escape this mess, because the armor shrunk to his size shortly after. He stared at his hands, mesmerized, as more glowing lights appeared and brought with them a very big, very heavy sword. He almost dropped it, until it shrunk to a more proper size too.

He was frozen in shock, staring at his reflection in the blade and questioning his sanity. Almost as an afterthought, a helmet materialized around his head, completing his look. Its random appearance was enough to snap him out of his stupor so he could properly freak out.

“AHHH! WHAT THE—” He dropped the sword and scrambled back, patting frantically at the helmet and armor. The sword disappeared in a flash of light, and he somehow managed to trip over his couch and land on his back with a loud CLANG. He couldn’t even fell the fall through the armor.

Jim propped himself up on his elbows, staring wide-eyed at his armor encased body. His first coherent thoughts were: _Is this real? This can’t be real. Where did this armor come from—_

He was hit with a chilling realization.

He _recognized_ this armor.

“Oh no.” He said, standing up slowly, absolutely horrified. “This is—it’s—stupid, why did I _take_ it?!”

This was the Trollhunter’s armor. He didn’t know a lot about the guy, but he did know he was a big deal. No one else had armor like this; no _wonder_ the amulet had looked so familiar! This was bad. They were probably looking for it—

The front door opened and Jim stopped breathing all together.

It was just Toby.

Jim sighed heavily in relief. “Oh thank god,” he muttered. Then he saw his friend’s face, and quickly realized that with the helmet on Toby had no clue who he was.

“Oh god.” Toby said, taking a step back and looking extremely pale. No wonder, to him it probably looked like the world’s wimpiest troll had invaded his best friend’s house.

“Toby, wait, it’s me!” Jim said quickly, holding up his hands in a sign of peace. “It’s me, it’s Jim!” The helmet disappeared all on its own, which, hey that was kind of cool but now was not the time to be thinking about it—

Toby sagged in relief, placing a hand over his no doubt rapidly beating heart. “Oh my god. Dude, don’t scare me like that!”

Jim laughed, despite situation. “Well you could’ve knocked.”

“I never knock. I practically live here half the time, you know that—but wait, hold on.” Leave it to Toby to notice the elephant in the room. “That armor. It sort of looks like…”

Jim nodded. His throat felt dry. “I think it is.”

“Oh.” Toby closed the door, some of that paleness returning. “Oh that’s—that’s not good. This is—this the opposite of good. This is bad. Very, very bad.”

“No kidding.” Jim agreed, slumping as Toby stepped forward for a closer look.

“They’re probably looking for it.” Toby said, unintentionally echoing Jim’s earlier thoughts. “This is—really cool, but also really bad. Jim, I’m torn. How am I supposed to feel about this?!”

“We’re getting rid of it.” Jim said decidedly. “I’m just going to put it back where I found it, and we’re going to forget this ever happened.”

“Yes, that is a good idea. Very responsible.” Toby agreed, before looking out the window at the steadily darkening sky with a cringe. “But…tonight?”

Jim made a face. Yeah, that was a terrible idea. “Tomorrow. As soon as I can.”

“Okay.” Toby nodded, relaxing. “Okay good. This is good.” He shot the armor a look, before giving it a cautious tap. Toby grinned. “This is still pretty cool though.”

Jim shook his head, but couldn’t help but agree. “Yeah, you’re kind of right.” He looked down at the armor, remembering how it had basically formed from nothing. The thought made him pause, as he realized something.

“Hang on a sec… how do I get this _off?_ ”


	2. Chapter 2

The Arcadia colony was one of three colonies scattered along the western coast of North America. There had once been a fourth colony, further inland, but it had fallen to Gumm-Gumms years ago. Other colonies existed beyond these, but no one was sure how many, or more likely how few. Communications were tricky enough between the three costal colonies; anything beyond that was a slow and difficult process.

But humanity had done well for itself in secrecy. Cultures that could be preserved were, and once the colonies had settled, improvements were made. If very slow ones. Due to the communication issue, among other things, advancements tended to vary from colony to colony. Jim liked to think he was in one of the better ones, though, even if it was small. They’d pretty much incorporated the use of electricity into their day-to-day lives, which was more than could be said of some colonies their size.

Nothing could beat their location though. A lot of colonies had to be in less than ideal places, to avoid discovery. Arcadia, on the other hand, was settled in the hills, laid out amongst the dips and slopes so that the civilization within couldn’t be seen unless you climbed one of the hills that guarded it. Around those hills, vegetation was kept purposefully sparse, enough so that any sane troll would think twice before trekking anywhere near them, lest they risk being turned to stone come morning.

Of course, they wouldn’t have survived as long as they had if this was their only defense. No, Arcadia had something special. Jim could remember the history lesson everyone had been taught, when they were younger. Amongst the founders of Arcadia had been a powerful wizard, a rarity for humans. The wizard, concerned by their unintentionally close proximity to Trollmarket, cast what everyone in Arcadia called the Barrier. It prevented anyone who hadn’t already been in the colony before from entering, making Arcadia one of the safest colonies on the western coast, and providing it the peace it needed to flourish.

It was a good place to be, if a little boring at times. Something Jim couldn’t help thinking as he stepped out of his house, shutting the door quietly behind him so he wouldn’t wake his sleeping mother. He’d taken his time cleaning and making breakfast today; wanting to leave later than he usually did, just to be safe. He had accidentally stolen the Trollhunter’s amulet, after all. It was probably better for everyone if he let the sun rise a little more before going to return it.

“So, you’re going to return it right?”

Jim about had a heart attack, Toby somehow managing to sneak up on him. “Jeeze, Tobes—” He took a breath, letting his heart rate settle. “Yeah. Like I said.”

Toby nodded. “So how’d you finally get the armor off?”

Jim shrugged, digging into his bag. “I don’t know really, it just sort of disappeared after a while?” And before his mother came home, thankfully. That would’ve been difficult to explain. “I’m not going to even _try_ and figure out how it works. Their language is difficult enough—ah, here.” He pulled out the lunch he’d made for Toby and handed it to him.

Toby lit up, taking the bag and peeking inside. “Yes! Meatloaf! Did you use those mushrooms?”

“Yep.”

“Awesome.” Toby tucked his lunch away in his own bag, before saying, “Let’s go! I’ll walk you to the Barrier.”

“Sure you don’t want to come with me?” Jim offered.

“As fun as risking an encounter with an angry troll sounds…” Toby shrugged. “I can’t. Orthodontist appointment.”

“Again?”

They set off together, just talking aimlessly. Jim steadily felt his worries lessening, as they tended to whenever he was with his best friend. He’d put the amulet back where he found it, and everything would be fine. He’d make sure of it.

 

* * *

 

 

They were passing the edge of the market when they ran into trouble. Jim slowed, frowning as he noticed Eli Pepperjack being cornered by a familiar group of three. Steve Palchuk, an apprentice guard who, ironically, bullied his peers more than he protected them, headed this group of tormentors.

Toby noticed Jim’s look, and quickly attempted to talk him out of intervening. “Oh no, I know what your thinking. Just keep walking. If psycho Steve’s terrorizing him, he’s not terrorizing us.”

“Someone has to do something.” Jim protested, already turning to head over.

“But Jim we’ve already got stuff to do! Jim?” Jim had already walked away. “Jim!”

Ignoring Toby’s pleas, Jim headed over to the group. Steve was being an overall unoriginal nuisance, shoving at Eli and trying to get the stack of books he was carrying to topple out of his hands, while his cronies laughed and egged him on.

“Hey, Steve.” Jim piped up cautiously, garnering their attention. “Leave him alone.” At Steve’s glare, he added, “I mean, it would be nice.”

Steve sneered. “What would be _nice_ is you minding your own business.” Before Jim could respond to that, Steve turned back to Eli. “Now, tell me again, dweebface, what’d you see outside the Barrier?”

“I—” At Steve’s continued prodding, Eli eventually answered. “G-goblins. Just outside the colony!”

Steve laughed, a grating sound on the best of days. “Goblins! HA! Man, Eli, you’ve got an imagination! Like goblins would actually be able to get that close.”

“It’s true!” Eli protested, though it was weak. Steve finally managed to knock the large stack of books out of Eli’s hands, much to his dismay.

“Hey,” Jim interrupted again, firmer this time, “seriously. Leave him alone.”

Steve, clearly fed up with Jim’s disruptions, turned around and hauled him forward by the strap of his bag. Jim winced, his toes barely touching the ground, embarrassingly enough. “Oh yeah? And what are you going to do about it, _rat?_ ” Steve pulled his fist back in clear threat.

Jim forgot his self-preservation instincts for a moment, suddenly too annoyed with Steve to care. “Fine. Do it.”

Steve seemed surprised. “Wha—you’re asking for a beating?”

“Yeah. Just go crazy.” Jim said, staring Steve down. “But in 20 years you’ll be fat, and bald, and working as a janitor because you suck as a guard! And Eli will become a great inventor and he’ll be famous!”

“I do like machines!” Eli agreed timidly, only to be silenced by a glare from Steve.

But the damage had already been done. People who had originally just been passing by were stopping to see what was happening. Toby, picking up on the changing tides, began to chant, “Yeah! Leave him alone! Leave him alone!” Soon the whole group joined in. Taking advantage of Steve’s distraction, like any good scavenger would, he reached up and pinched Steve’s wrist. Hard. It was enough to startle the bully into releasing him.

Steve looked bewildered that anyone would act against him, and then angry. Just when it looked like Jim was about to get punched, despite the witnesses, he was saved by the sudden arrival of the leader of the guard, coach Lawrence. Who wasn’t actually a coach in any way, but still insisted everyone address him as such. “Palchuk! What’s going on here!?”

Jim had never seen someone change modes so fast. It was creepy. Steve backed off, smiling innocently and replying with, “Nothing, sir.”

“Why aren’t you at training?”

“I was helping Eli, here.” Steve replied pleasantly, picking up one of Eli’s books and dropping it unceremoniously into the smaller boy’s hands. “He tripped.”

“On the double, now!” Coach disappeared back around the corner.

Steve’s glare was back in an instant. He leaned forward dangerously. “Friday, at noon. You and me.” He whispered, jabbing Jim’s shoulder for emphasis. “Tick. Tock.”

Jim watched him go, effectively creeped out and still a little surprised he hadn’t been punched. He shook his head and helped Eli gather his books as the crowd dispersed.

“Thank you!” Eli said, nearly fumbling the books.

“Heh. You’re welcome.” Jim said, watching to make sure Eli didn’t actually trip. When he was sure the guy would be okay, he joined back up with Toby again.

“Dude! That was awesome!” Toby gushed as they continued their walk. “How you stood up to him! And did you see how I started that chant? Leave him alone, leave him alone!” Toby laughed, clearly a little giddy. “I mean, you won’t live past Friday, but still. Awesome!”

Jim sighed, not looking forward to any sort of altercation. He knew a little self-defense, but Steve was a lot bigger. And meaner. And better trained, since he was an apprentice guard and all. He was going to get pummeled.

Then they started up the hill towards the Barrier, and Jim decided he had bigger problems to worry about at the moment.

 

* * *

 

 

Jim wasn’t out long when he realized he had a problem. He couldn’t remember where he’d found the amulet. Or, more strictly speaking, he remembered where he’d found it, just not how to get back there.

Honestly, he tended to be better at remembering these kinds of things! You’re chances of surviving as a scavenger were slim if you couldn’t. But apparently the find had been so random that he just… hadn’t felt any need to commit the location to memory. Something he was seriously regretting now.

So, with little other option, he began retracing his steps to the best of his ability, hoping that at some point he’d stumble across a familiar landmark. A slow going process, to say the least.

He was taking a break and considering his options when someone called. “Ah, young Atlas! Where are you off to today?”

Jim blinked, searching for the voice’s owner. He smiled when his eyes landed on Mr. Strickler, his worries momentarily forgotten as he headed over to the man. “Oh, hey Mr. Strickler!”

Walter Strickler was a trader of sorts, or at least he used to be, before he settled near the colony. Before then, he’d traveled the land, carting goods and information between different colonies. An important job, yet it was even more risky than scavenging. He’d settled near Jim’s colony when his own fell to the Gumm-Gumms, and now spent most of his days advising council members in external affairs, sharing the knowledge he’d learned from his travels with the scholars, and occasionally training young scavengers.

Jim was proud to say he was one of those scavengers Strickler had trained.

Last he checked, Mr. Strickler and the handful of refugees that had escaped with him from his old colony still hadn’t been granted admittance into _their_ colony. But things had definitely been leaning in his favor as of late. The man had been nothing but a useful asset for years, and even the most paranoid people were beginning to have trouble objecting.

“Find anything of interest, today?” Mr. Strickler asked.

“Not yet, but I’m working on it.” Jim said with a weak smile, remembering the amulet in his bag. He was tempted to tell Mr. Strickler about it and see if he could help. The man had always been a great listening ear. “What about you?”

“Oh, much the same, I’m afraid. Though I am looking for something particular. It will no doubt take a while.”

“Really? Well what is it, I might be able to help.” He wouldn’t actually be able to go hunt whatever it was down, but he could at least say if he’d seen it before.

“Nothing of importance, truly.” Mr. Strickler replied easily, looking him over. “But how are you? You seemed a bit stressed before.”

Jim laughed sheepishly. “It’s nothing really. There’s just been some… stuff, going on.” Yeah, talk about an understatement. “I’m taking care of it.”

“Hm. I do hope you’re not overworking yourself, again?”

“Uh, no. Not really.”

Strickler didn’t look convinced. “I believe you mean ‘yes.’ Honestly, Jim, you look piqued. Have you been getting enough sleep?”

Jim sighed, finally giving in. “Mom’s just been really busy lately, that’s all. And then there’s that other stuff… I’m fine, Mr. Strickler, really.”

“Well, what is this ‘other stuff’? You know I’m always willing to listen, if you need it.”

Jim looked away, considering this. Eventually, he decided he didn’t want to drag Strickler into this whole amulet mess, not when he was already taking care of it. “It’s nothing important, really. But thanks. For the offer.”

Mr. Strickler smiled. “Of course. I’m here to help if you change your mind.”

Jim smiled. “Thanks.” Suddenly, he was struck with an idea. He might not want to bring up the amulet, but… “Hey, um, actually. I could probably use a little help right now.”

“Certainly. What do you need?”

Jim took a breath. Okay. “I’m… sort of looking for a spot I went to yesterday? Maybe you know it? I wasn’t paying attention so I forgot which way I went… There were some troll remains there, I think.”

Mr. Strickler looked momentarily startled. “Troll remains? Was there a cluster of large boulders nearby?”

Jim’s face lit up with recognition. “Yes! Exactly! So, do you know where it is?”

Mr. Strickler’s face was hard to read. “You were there… yesterday, you said?”

Jim blinked, not sure what he meant by that. “Uh, yeah? Is something wrong?”

Mr. Strickler scrutinized him for a moment longer, before the easy demeanor returned. “Not at all. Pull out your map, I’ll show you where it is.” Jim did as he asked, completely missing Strickler’s quick glance at the contents of his bag.

Jim listened attentively to Mr. Strickler’s directions, and soon knew exactly where he was going. He beamed at his teacher. “Thanks Mr. Strickler. You’re a lifesaver.”

“It’s no trouble, really. Will you be heading off then?” Mr. Strickler asked, folding his hands neatly behind his back.

“Yeah, sorry, but I’ll see you around.” Jim assured, already heading off.

“No need for apologies.” Mr. Strickler said, watching him leave. “I actually have somewhere I need to be as well, now.”

 

* * *

 

 

Even with Mr. Strickler’s directions, it still took some time to find the exact spot. When he finally did, he realized that he’d passed the place once already, and had missed it because the troll remains he’d been using as his main identifier had been removed.

That didn’t ease his worries in the slightest. It meant they’d been here, and were for sure looking for the missing amulet now. Not good.

“I’m fixing it.” He muttered to himself, scanning the whole area three times before warily creeping into the open. Nothing moved or jumped out to attack him. Still, he doubted he’d be able to relax until he was at home, far away from the accidentally stolen amulet.

Speaking of the amulet, he pulled it out, giving the area one last cautious scan as he did so. Then, ever so carefully, with the utmost gentleness and respect, he knelt and placed it on the ground. Pulled his hands back. Took a breath. No one jumped out of hiding to accuse him of thievery.

Well. That was good.

He turned and bolted anyway.

He ran a good portion of the way home, before he finally grew tired and slowed to a walk. Breathing heavy, he couldn’t help but smile. Problem solved. He’d handled it pretty well, too.

A little more at ease, he continued on at a more leisurely pace, keeping an eye out for anything useful on the way. He was already out, so he might as well. As long is it wasn’t another important troll artifact, he’d be fine.

Jim made it back to the colony around two. He went straight to his house to drop off his admittedly meager finds, with plans to go to Toby right after and tell him how it all went. Except, when he entered the house, he was greeted by something impossible.

The amulet was sitting on the coffee table.

He stared at it, stunned. He wasn’t sure what to think. Was this some kind of cruel practical joke? Did someone follow him, take the amulet, and race ahead to deposit it here in time for him to find it? Would anyone even do that?

Shakily, he picked up the amulet and confirmed that it was, indeed, real.

Clenching it tightly in his hands, he was running back to the woods before he could even comprehend what he was doing. Somehow, he made it all the way back to the spot he’d left it. Really, a stupid move because it was so far out; it had to be past three when he got there. He wasn’t exactly thinking straight though, gripped completely by panic and a need to know for sure.

And yes, the amulet wasn’t where he left it. So the one currently clutched in his hands was most likely the very same.

Taking a deep breath, he dropped it on the ground with much less ceremony. “Stay.” He ordered it. The amulet, being an amulet, didn’t reply. Feeling like he might be losing his mind, Jim left for the second time that day.

He didn’t get very far before tripping over the amulet, which had somehow materialized in front of him.

“What!?” He exclaimed, scrambling away from the thing like it was toxic. “Leave me alone!”

The amulet glowed innocently.

Suddenly very frustrated, he snatched up the amulet, dug a hole in the ground, and buried it right then and there. Then he ran for it, again.

A little later, he found the amulet in his bag when he stopped to drink some water. And in his pocket several minutes after he’d chucked it into the woods and ran for a third time.

Thoroughly freaked out—as he should be, because a magical troll artifact was apparently _stalking_ him—Jim shoved the amulet in his bag and shot off in a different direction. He was getting rid of this thing, one way or another.

This was what eventually led him to carefully making his way down to the edge of a river. This section had too fast a current to actually swim in, but he wasn’t there for swimming anyway. Tired and afraid and overall just straight up done with the amulet, he flicked it into the river like he was skipping a stone. It skimmed the water’s surface once, twice, three times, before sinking beneath the water and being carried away by the current. He felt a great peace wash over him as it vanished from sight.

“Good riddance.” He muttered, turning around to walk away.

Life was never that simple though. Something hard and metal crashed into the back of his skull before he got very far. A hand flying to developing bump, he whipped around, looked down, and there, at his feet, was the amulet. It wasn’t even wet.

“OH C’MON!” He shouted, throwing his hands in the air in pure frustration. “Just go away already!”

A dark chuckle from behind him made him freeze. “What’s this?” A deep, gravelly voice mocked. There was an underlying growl in the tone that was distinctly inhuman.

Wait, but…

Feeling numb, Jim looked up, and realized for the first time just how much shade the trees running along the river provided, especially during this time of day. Enough shade for, say, a particularly large creature to hide from the sun in. He swallowed thickly, forcing himself to turn and look.

A hulking, red-eyed troll grinned maliciously at him from the shadows.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Jim had started learning to scavenge when he was twelve and a half.

Back then, his mom hadn’t been head healer, and had had to work a lot harder to provide for herself and her son. Jim had helped wherever he could; cooking meals, cleaning the house, basically anything a twelve year old could conceivably pull off on their own. But it had never felt like enough.

On top of everything he was supposed to be considering apprenticeships, so he’d be able to help contribute to the colony one day, but nothing seemed to work for him. More importantly, everything would take _too long_. If he was going to do something, he wanted it to be something that could help his mom out, as soon as possible.

That’s when he’d stumbled upon scavenging.

It wasn’t an ideal job. Or remotely desired by anyone, really. It had the highest death rates. It required you to put yourself at risk every single day by leaving the safety of the colony to scavenge the woods beyond for useful supplies. Usually on your own, too, since large groups could attract unwanted attention. But the training for it was fast, and the rewards plentiful, if you knew what you were doing.

He’d decided it was his best option, and then proceeded to seek out a teacher. His mom hadn’t been happy with the idea, but eventually agreed to let Jim try it out. Months later, a couple of weeks after his thirteenth birthday, he’d set out on his own for the first time, and the rest, as they say, was history.

Unlike some scavengers, Jim had never been spotted by a troll, at least as far as he knew. There’d been a few close calls, sure. And he’d had plenty of run-ins with gnomes, and even one unlucky encounter with a goblin, but never a troll.

But the other shoe had to drop eventually, right? No scavenger could escape completely unscathed, no matter how good they were. Eventually, they slipped up. Jim had expected this. What he hadn’t expected was that he’d slip up so _badly._

He had to remind himself to breathe. Never taking his eyes from the troll, he scooped up the amulet and slowly backed away, only to abruptly stop when he remembered the river blocked any such escape. Trying to swim it could prove just as dangerous as the troll. He scanned his surroundings frantically, but only found shade, shade and more shade, and never enough sun to take cover in. Crap. He was cornered.

The troll knew it too. It paced easily amongst the trees, a hungry gleam in its eyes. “No where to run, fleshbag.” The troll growled. “Maybe if you beg, I’ll make your death _quick._ ”

Jim stiffened. Well that confirmed that. The troll was a Gumm-Gumm then, and the only reason Jim wasn’t dead yet was because it seemed to get kick out of watching him squirm. Just his luck that it wasn’t just any troll that cornered him, but a sadistic, man-eating troll.

His heart pounding, he took a few more steps back, realizing he had only two viable options: one, attempt to face down a troll, or two, take his chances with the river.

He couldn’t help but glance at the amulet in his hands. It did provide him with a full set of armor and a sword. Maybe he’d stand a chance against the Gumm-Gumm.

Unfortunately, the glance was enough to alert the troll of the amulet’s presence. Its eyes widened, before narrowing into a scowl. “What? You’re the one who took it!” The troll roared, surging forward. “GIVE IT TO ME!”

Nope. Nope, nope, nope!

Jim turned and leaped into the river, missing the troll’s grab for him by a hairs breadth. Yes!

The water was an icy shock to his system. For a second he was frozen with shock and disorientation. The roaring rush of water muffled the furious bellow of the troll as he was whisked away by the current. It was the need for air that eventually snapped him out of his shock, and he kicked, kicked, _kicked,_ until he breached the water’s surface, gasping.

He spun in the water, his teeth chattering, trying to pinpoint the troll on land while simultaneously not being pulled under by the river current. There. The troll was balancing on the very ledge Jim had jumped from, looking torn and very, very irritated. All the while, the distance between them was growing.

Finally the troll snapped, “Coward! Let the river finish you off! I’ll find the amulet either way!” Then Jim was pulled around a bend, and the troll disappeared from sight.

Phew.

His relief was short lived. He was still being dragged through a dangerous portion of river, after all. Something he was quickly reminded of when his ankle caught on something beneath the water. He registered a sharp pain, right before he was abruptly dragged under.

For several moments, he panicked, desperately trying to get back up to the surface, with little success. The debris kept him in place, effectively allowing the current to continuously force him beneath the water’s surface. Eventually, realization was able to reach him through his flailing; if he kept up like this, he was going to drown.

Lungs aching, Jim stilled, eyes darting around desperately. He was able to spot where his ankle was caught between some rocks, and quickly pulled himself closer, scrambling for some kind of purchase so he could maneuver his foot free. It hurt, but he was able to yank his ankle out from where it had wedged, and was soon being dragged along by the current once more.

He surfaced, coughing and spluttering. Now he remembered why he’d been so reluctant to jump in the river in the first place.

He tried to swim to the edge, but no luck. He was drained, and his ankle was throbbing horribly. Eventually he gave in and went with the flow of the current, unknowingly clutching the amulet to his chest all the while.

By the time he reached calmer waters, he was exhausted. Weakly, he paddled toward the shallows, spotting a pebbled bank up ahead. It became clear quickly that his ankle was in no condition to be walked on, so when the time came he crawled the rest of the way to the bank, collapsing when he finally made it.

That had been…

His eyes closed almost of their own volition, and he passed out.

 

* * *

 

 

Despite Vendel’s warnings, Blinky was in the woods searching for the “mysterious third party” the second he was able. If nobody was going to believe him, then he’d just find proof himself.

Of course ARRRGH!!!, the great friend that he was, accompanied him on this mission. Even if the troll was a pacifist, Blinky felt safer with him at his back. If anything, ARRRGH!!!’s presence would at least make a person think twice before bothering them.

After searching the place of Kanjigar’s death one last time and finding nothing, Blinky was about to give up. It was only happenstance that he noticed something odd just before leaving: footprints. Upon closer examination, he realized that they didn’t belong to any troll. With growing excitement, he called ARRRGH!!! over and asked for his opinion.

ARRRGH!!! gave the footprints a sniff. “Same smell. Stronger.”

“Really?” Blinky was delighted. So whoever this mysterious person was, they’d been back. It was then he noticed his companion seemed troubled. “Is something wrong, old friend?”

“Might be…” ARRRGH!!! sounded unsure. “Smell… familiar.”

Blinky listened attentively. “How so?”

ARRRGH!!! shook his head, looking thoughtful. “Not sure. Old memory. But, familiar.”

Blinky felt determination settle within him. “Very well. I do believe we have our first lead, then!” He laughed, feeling giddy. This could very well lead them to the person they were seeking! “I can’t wait to see Vendel’s face!”

They set off in search of more clues.

 

* * *

 

 

“Urgh.” Jim’s eyes opened slowly. “I feel…terrible.”

He groaned as he sat up, his whole body stiff and sore. For a second, he wasn’t sure where he was. Then he registered the water lapping at his feet, and just how _cold_ he actually was, and the memories came back to him.

He stared blankly at the river, re-processing these events.

“Right.” He croaked. “Could’ve been worse.”

No one said otherwise. The night was as peaceful as could be.

Wait a second… night?

Jim jolted, finally noticing the darkened sky. “Oh no.” He hurried to stand, but was swiftly brought down by a biting pain in his ankle. He sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth, clutching at the injured ankle in an attempt to stop the pain. “Ow, ow, ow, _ow._ That hurts.” When the pain had subsided to a dull throb, he released the grip he had on his ankle and gingerly began to inspect it.

It didn’t feel bad enough to be a break, so it was probably some kind of sprain. He wanted to see how bad the swelling was, but getting his boot off proved to be too painful a process. He gave up and decided he’d just have to check it over later.

He shivered, hugging his arms around his chest in attempt to preserve some heat. His clothes were still damp, so they weren’t doing much for him in that department. Luckily, it wasn’t too cold out that night.

Heh. Luckily. If there was one thing he was sure he wasn’t right then, it was lucky. He leaned back on his hand heavily, thinking.

Now what?

He should probably get moving. A riverbank wasn’t exactly the safest place to hide out. Especially considering that a Gumm-Gumm had basically threatened to steal the amulet from Jim’s drowned corpse.

Speaking of, where was the amulet? Had it finally decided to leave him alone?

It took him about two seconds to look around and find the amulet sitting on the ground to his right, easily within arm’s reach. He… wasn’t even surprised at this point.

He picked up the amulet. “This is all your fault, you know.”

The amulet glowed softly.

Jim sighed, pocketing the amulet. It was probably going to follow him around no matter what he did, so he might as well take it with him. At least he’d have some sort of defense in the event of another troll encounter.

Now all he needed was some kind of crutch, because he definitely wasn’t walking anywhere without one any time soon. He glanced around, trying to find something that might work. He was rewarded when he spotted a sturdy looking branch a little ways behind him. He crawled over to the branch and, with a steadying breath, used it to stand. His cold, stiff limbs protested the movement, but he powered through. He couldn’t stay out here. He needed to find some sort of shelter.

A tree would be nice. He’d hidden from a good handful of the trolls he’d come across by climbing trees. As long as you were quiet, they never seemed to look up. But climbing wasn’t the best option with a sprained ankle. He might just have to hoof it back to the colony and pray he didn’t run into trouble along the way.

The idea really made him appreciate that this was his first time being caught outside the colony at night. It was more than a little unnerving; every shadow seemed to have the potential to morph into a man-eating troll. He wasn’t going to let this happen again any time soon, if he could help it.

Feeling tired, cold, and more than a little paranoid, Jim took another steadying breath and hobbled off into the night.

 

* * *

 

 

“Well, this is certainly disappointing.” Blinky said, just a tad bitterly. They hadn’t found any other real trace of their quarry, and were now heading back the way they’d come.

“Sorry.” ARRRGH!!! said, patting Blinky’s back consolingly

Blinky couldn’t help his smile. “Yes. It’s just one of those things, I suppose. I’m not going to give up, though. Mark my words, ARRRGH!!!, we will persevere!”

ARRRGH!!! nodded, like he’d never doubted it, before growing confused. “Per—per-sev-ere?”

“To continue on in the face of adversity.” Blinky explained easily.

“Mm.” ARRRGH!!! said, understanding crossing his features. “We persevere.”

“Indeed.”

Before the conversation could continue any further, Blinky slowed his quick gait to halt. ARRRGH!!! followed his lead. Blinky frowned thoughtfully, listening. “It sounds like something’s coming our way.” He whispered. He stared hard in the direction the noise was coming from, but whatever it was wasn’t close enough to see.

ARRRGH!!! rumbled, looking unhappy. “Know what you’re thinking.”

“It can’t hurt to investigate. There aren’t supposed to be any Gumm-Gumms around here, anyway.” Blinky was already sneaking his way towards the source of the noise.

ARRRGH!!! stayed close behind him. “Still bad idea.”

They both paused when they heard a quiet curse. Listening closely, Blinky was just able to hear: “Stupid… ankle. I can’t…” Everything else fell into incomprehensible muttering.

Blinky gestured to keep going. They edged down a slight slope, still listening. Whoever they were approaching had gone fairly silent, for some reason. He wound around some foliage, wondering if maybe they’d alerted this person of their presence, and that was their reason for silence, only to freeze when there was a sharp gasp.

Blinky turned towards the sound, and all six of his eyes widened in surprise and wonder. “Oh my…” Because there, sitting leaned up against a tree a few yards away, was a boy with dark hair and wide, blue eyes. A human.

 

* * *

 

 

Jim was starting to get a little frustrated. The different lighting was just enough to throw off his navigating, and it probably hadn’t helped that he’d only had a vague idea of where he was starting from when he’d first headed out. Throw his injured ankle into the mix, and the journey was annoyingly slow going.

It was around when he almost tripped on a stray tree root and fell flat on his face that he decided he _needed_ a break, just a quick one, so he could reorient himself and catch his breath. He was pretty sure this was a safe area, or as safe as any area in the forest could be at night. He’d be fine. Probably.

Already taken with the idea, he limped over to a relatively clear spot in front of a tree and just about dropped to the ground. He ran a hand over his face, leaning back against the tree. Wow. He was tired.

A small noise had him tensing. He glanced around, wondering if he should maybe hide. It more likely a raccoon than a troll, right? There was _no way_ his luck was that bad.

Two trolls appeared before he could think much more on this, and he couldn’t help his sharp inhale. Apparently he was wrong. His luck was that bad.

He didn’t move, momentarily stunned by the fact that this was actually happening to him again. The six-eyed one—that was so many eyes, he’d never seen a troll like that before—seemed just as shocked as he was. Some small, logical part of his brain pointed out that that probably meant these trolls weren’t Gumm-Gumms, but it didn’t make him feel better either way, so he ignored it.

“ARRRGH!!!” The six eyed one whispered, still locked in what was beginning to feel like a staring contest with Jim.

Jim’s stress levels, against all odds, increased when he realized just how _large_ the six-eyed troll’s green-furred companion was. He wouldn’t stand a chance, not when he couldn’t run. Was he going to hyperventilate? Pass out? That would be bad, so he decided he should make a serious effort not to.

“Human.” The big one rumbled. The six-eyed one straight up grinned, looking very much like a kid in a candy store, which made Jim feel oh so much worse. He reminded himself, once again, that passing out at this point would be a very bad idea.

It was when they took a step closer that Jim finally snapped to his senses. “Stop!” He ordered, his voice edged with panic. He tried to scramble to his feet, only to be brought back down by his _stupid ankle_. “Don’t—don’t come any closer!”

Surprisingly, they did as he asked. It was unexpected enough to make Jim freeze up again. They looked surprised too. Maybe because a puny human teenager actually had the gall to give them orders or something. Maybe it was only a matter of time before they tried to kill him like that Gumm-Gumm had. Maybe—

“My apologies. We can stay right here, if you’d like?”

Jim’s brain ground to a halt. He blinked trying to process the offer but failing miserably. “W-what?”

“Stay here.” The big one repeated, taking a seat right where he was. The six-eyed one followed suit.

Jim wasn’t sure what to think anymore. “O-oh.” And then, because he felt like he should say something, he added a slightly dubious, “Thank you?”

The six-eyed one smiled, the gesture bizarrely friendly. “You’re quite welcome.”

They stayed like that for a long time, neither party saying a word, just openly staring at each other. This got old really fast for Jim, and he decided that this needed to move along somehow.

Hesitantly, he opened his mouth to speak, closed it, and then finally worked up the courage to ask, “Do—do you need something?”

To his surprise, both trolls nodded. “Actually, yes.” The six-eyed one said. “We are trying to track down something of great importance, and we were wondering if you might be able to assist us.”

Now that put Jim on edge. What if they were looking for the colony? Could this whole nice thing just be an act? “What are you looking for?” He asked warily.

“Amulet.” The big one provided.

Jim just about died inside. Because of course, of _course_ these guys were looking for the amulet too. He was really starting to think he was cursed.

 

* * *

 

 

Blinky was doing his very best not to jump and shout with joy. He’d been right! And Vendel said humans were extinct. Ha!

Nonetheless, this was the first real human-troll interaction in centuries, and it required delicacy. The human was understandably wary of them, and the last thing he wanted to do was heighten that wariness by being overzealous. No matter how hard the boy tried to hide it, he was injured and possibly young. If they weren’t careful, they could scare him off for good.

He’d just have to celebrate being right later.

Even more interesting was the boy’s shift in behavior when they mentioned the amulet. To be sure there were no misunderstandings, Blinky described it. “It’s blue and silver, with an inscription in Trollish around the face.”

“Glow-y with hands like a clock?” The boy added after a second, watching them carefully.

“Yes, exactly!” Blinky said, absolutely ecstatic that he might’ve been right about _this_ too. “So you’ve seen it?”

The boy was quiet for a long time. Finally, he shifted, digging into his pocket to produce the missing amulet itself! He held it out to them. “Here.” Blinky was stunned by his sheer luck. To think, not only had they stumbled upon a human, but the exact human who’d taken the amulet in the first place…

Said human must’ve taken their silence as a bad thing. He wavered, before quickly explaining. “Look, I’m sorry I took it. I—I didn’t know what it was, and then I figured it out and I’ve been _trying_ to return it all day but—just take it, please. I don’t want it.”

“It’s all right, really. If you truly didn’t know.” The boy nodded, looking downright exhausted. Blinky’s heart went out to him. “May I?”

The boy scrutinized him, and Blinky did his absolute best to look unimposing. It was certainly a strange change of pace. Thankfully, he seemed to pass the boy’s judgment. “Yeah,” the human said softly, looking away.

Blinky stood, and was sure to approach slowly. The boy was tense, but didn’t object. When he was finally close enough, Blinky took the amulet and retreated quickly, so as not to loom over the boy. The moment the exchange was over, the boy pulled his hand back to his chest.

Blinky, feeling a little more confident that they weren’t going to scare him off, offered, “You are injured, yes? Might we be of some assistance?”

The boy seemed to freeze, no doubt uneasy at the idea. Blinky decided to try and ease some of that tension. “What’s your name?” He asked.

“What?” The boy said, caught off guard.

“Your name.” Blinky replied patiently. “I am known as Blinky. My companion here is ARRRGH!!!”

“Three r’s.” ARRRGH!!! added helpfully.

“Right.” The boy said, looking a little dazed. “It’s, uh, Jim. My name’s Jim.”

“Well, Jim.” Blinky said, pleased to have gotten a name. “We would be happy to offer some assistance, if you require it. So?”

As expected, this had the boy’s guard back up in an instant. “I’m—I’m fine, really.” Jim said, pressing back against the tree. “So thanks for not killing me and stuff, but I’m good. Honestly!”

“Hm.” Blinky might’ve accepted the dismissal for what it was, or he might’ve tried his luck pressing the boy a little more. The truth was he’d never know, because something happened that changed the situation completely.

He’d been shifting his grip on the amulet, when it suddenly flew out of his hand and to Jim. The boy in question squeaked in surprise, catching the speeding amulet on reflex.

“Ow.” Jim muttered, shaking out the hand he’d caught the amulet with. “I swear this thing has it out for me…” It was then the boy noticed the gaping stares being sent his way. He shifted uncomfortably. “What?”

“By Deya’s Grace…” Blinky breathed, seeing the boy in a whole new light. “This changes everything.”

 


	4. Chapter 4

There was a human in his library.

There was a human _Trollhunter_ in his library.

A human Trollhunter! The very first! Ever! A species that everyone believed to be extinct! And Blinky couldn’t say a word about it to anyone.

It had been difficult, convincing Master Jim to come with them to Trollmarket. Blinky couldn’t really blame the boy for his caution, but still. Human or not, Master Jim had been chosen and he needed to know what that meant! He needed training, before Bular inevitably caught wind of him and came after the amulet.

Master Jim hadn’t been as inclined to agree.

_“I assure you, it’s perfectly safe.” Blinky had said, trying to calm the boy down._

_“Not for me it isn’t!” Jim insisted._

_Blinky prepared to refute that, but paused, realizing the boy’s logic. Finally, he said, “I understand your concern, truly, but I don’t think you have much of a choice.”_

_Jim seemed to pale slightly. “Why not? Are you going to kidnap me?”_

_Agh! No! No, don’t scare off the human! Words, words, wasn’t Blinky supposed to be good with words— “No, of course not! We would never!” Next to him, ARRRGH!!! nodded in fierce agreement. “What I’m trying to say is it’s not safe for you out here. You’re injured, and many a troll is looking for the amulet right now. Any others you happen to run into might not be as, ah, understanding, about you being the amulet’s chosen.”_

_Like Draal, for instance._

_This appeared to be enough to make Jim pause, if only for a moment. “You keep saying chosen. What’re you even talking about?”_

_“Trollhunter.” ARRRGH!!! answered, pointing at Jim._

_“But I’m not the Trollhunter!” Jim exclaimed. “I—I’ve seen the guy, and he’s definitely not me!”_

_Wha—Oh. Oh! Blinky finally realized what the disconnect was._

_“Master Jim,” Blinky said, feeling more comfortable now that he had a chance to educate rather than persuade. “What do you know of the Trollhunter and his role in our society?”_

_Jim stared at Blinky, before admitting, a tad sheepishly, “Not much. I’ve seen him once or twice. He’s a guard, or some kind of protector, right?”_

_“‘Was’ a protector,” Blinky corrected, feeling a twinge of sadness at the reminder of his lost friend. “Kanjigar, may he rest in peace, was recently felled in battle.”_

_“Oh,” Jim said softly, “I’m sorry.”_

_Blinky nodded in acknowledgement, before continuing with his explanation. “You see, when one Trollhunter passes, the Amulet of Daylight seeks out another to take up the mantle. That would be you, in this case.”_

_Jim’s eyes widened almost comically._ “Me?”

_“Precisely.” Blinky said. “It was why you were unable to return the amulet, because it was never, in fact, stolen in the first place. The amulet is yours now, and will be until the day you die.”_

_Jim was silent for a while, then: “Please tell me you’re joking.”_

_“Hardly. To be chosen as Trollhunter is a great honor. And you’re the first human ever to wield the mantle. This is a momentous occasion!” Blinky smiled hopefully, willing Jim to understand._

_“I—” Jim stared at him. “No. I’m not going to Trollmarket.”_

_Blinky’s smile dropped. “Well now we’re just going in circles.”_

_“Not safe up here.” ARRRGH!!! tried. “Bular.”_

_Jim squinted at him. “Whose Bular?”_

_“A Gumm-Gumm.” Blinky said, not actually expecting the term to mean much to Jim, only to be surprised when it_ did _. The boy stiffened, looking alarmed. “You know about Gumm-Gumms, but you don’t know about Bular?” Blinky asked, disbelieving._

_“All I’ve ever needed to know is to avoid the trolls that will actually eat you!” Jim defended. “Names aren’t that important. Why, who is he?”_

_“Bad.” ARRRGH!!! answered, “Very bad. Will find you. Kill you.”_

_“What?!”_

_“Th-that is why we should get to Trollmarket!” Blinky quickly interjected. “Gumm-Gumms like Bular are unable to enter. You’d be safe there.”_

_“But—I can’t—” Blinky’s hopes began to grow, as Jim now seemed almost torn over the matter. “I can’t…” Jim finished weakly, looking defeated._

_Blinky sighed, suddenly feeling guilty for pushing this on the boy, even if it was for his own good. “Well, I suppose if you know of any place just as safe that you’d prefer to go, we can head there.”_

_Jim froze, appearing somewhat horrified for a moment. Before Blinky could question it, the boy switched gears completely, unfreezing and observing both Blinky and ARRRGH!!! warily._

_“If I go with you,” Jim began slowly, “and I want to leave, will I be able to?”_

_Blinky perked up at the apparent change in heart. “Of course! You’re not our prisoner.”_

_Jim eyed them, as if weighing the truth in these words. Finally, he said, “Then I guess… I guess I’ll go with you.”_

_Blinky beamed, taking a step forward, intending to offer assistance with walking. “Wonderful! If you’d like—”_

_“Whoa, hang on!” Jim said, holding his hands up. “I have a condition.”_

_Blinky stepped back immediately, unwilling to break the fragile trust he’d managed to form with the boy. “Yes?”_

_“No one can know about me.” Jim said._

_Blinky froze, somewhat shocked by the words. “I’m sorry?”_

_“No one can know about me.” Jim repeated, the epitome of seriousness. “We’ve survived this long by staying hidden. I’m not about to expose us now. I don’t care how you manage it, but no one can know.”_

_Blinky was… incredibly torn, to be honest. On one hand, this could be the only way he’d get Jim to willingly go with them. On the other, no one would know that their new Trollhunter was human, or that humans even still existed! That could definitely cause some complications._

_Did he have much of a choice though…_

_No. He didn’t. Not if he wanted to earn Jim’s trust. Blinky was not oblivious, despite popular belief. He understood that a visit to Trollmarket was only a lesser of two evils for the boy. His decision came easier than he thought it would._

_“Very well,” he said with a sigh, “you have my word.”_

_ARRRGH!!! nodded seriously. “Mine too.”_

_The matter settled, Blinky had stepped forward once more and offered his hand._

_He hadn’t been able to help his smile when, after a moment’s hesitation, Master Jim took it._

And now there they were, in his library. Blinky could scarcely believe it. Master Jim even seemed a little more comfortable now too, probably having come to the conclusion that he and ARRRGH!!! truly didn’t harbor any ill will towards him. Blinky was glad for it.

(And oddly enough, not as disappointed as he thought he’d be over not being able to share any of this news with anyone else.)

“I hope that helps.” Blinky said, watching Master Jim finish wrapping up his ankle with what makeshift bandages Blinky had managed to find. “I’m no expert in human medicine, I’m afraid.”

“It should be enough to brace it for now.” Master Jim assured. After a brief pause, he added. “Um, thank you. You didn’t have to do this.”

“Nonsense. It wasn’t any trouble, really.”

“No I, uh, I mean…” Master Jim seemed to be at a loss for words.

ARRRGH!!! got what he was trying to say though. “S’okay,” ARRRGH!!! said, gently patting the boy on the head. “Safe. We said so.”

Jim smiled, and Blinky’s heart warmed a little at the interaction. (Another thing Blinky hadn’t expected: how easily he was growing to like the boy. Jim certainly didn’t make it difficult.)

Master Jim pulling out the amulet and setting it on the table was enough to snap Blinky back to reality. “I think I could really use a more in depth explanation of all… this.”

“Of course! What would you like to know?” Blinky was all ready compiling a list of books he could reference on the matter.

“Okay, so I’m apparently ‘the Trollhunter,’” Jim said, “but what does that even mean? What am I supposed to be doing?” 

That was a fair question. “Well, as Trollhunter, it is your duty to protect Trollmarket and all of troll kind from the dangers of our world. The most pertinent being the Gumm-Gumms, as well as goblins, gruesomes, and the occasional rogue gnome.” Blinky explained easily.

Jim laughed disbelievingly. “But… look at me! I don’t even know how to fight that well, wouldn’t someone like—like ARRRGH!!! maybe be a better choice?”

ARRRGH!!! shook his head. “Pacifist.”

Jim blinked, turning to ARRRGH!!! “Seriously?”

“That is why there is a Trollhunter, Master Jim.” Blinky said, drawing the boy’s attention back to him. “ARRRGH!!! renounced the violent path ages ago.”      

“Alright, fine but,” Jim shook his head, “there must be someone else, right? I can’t just drop everything and become some sort of troll protector. I have… stuff to do. Responsibilities!”

“I’m afraid once the amulet chooses its Trollhunter, it does not choose another one. Er, at least not until…”

“Death. Yeah. That’s kind of what I’m trying to avoid.” Jim muttered.

Blinky prepared himself to offer some sort of reassurance, something along the lines of training so death could be avoided—for as long as possible, anyway—but cut himself off when Jim stiffened. A moment later, Blinky heard it too: footsteps.

It wasn’t long before an all too familiar “Blinkous!” resounded through the library.

Jim was on his feet in an instant, but had clearly forgotten about his ankle, if the boy’s silent cringe was anything to go by. ARRRGH!!! was on top of it though, snatching Jim up before he could so much as stumble and dropping him out of sight behind a bookshelf.

And not a moment too soon, it seemed. Vendel entered the library seconds later, an irritated scowl on his face. Wonderful.      

Blinky sighed, trying not to act as annoyed as he felt, because honestly that was a conversation with an actual human Vendel just interrupted— “Yes Vendel, what can I do for you?”

“Oh, don’t you try the innocent act with _me_ , Blinkous.” Vendel said, sparing a somewhat flustered ARRRGH!!! the briefest of glances. Blinky, as always, was his main target. “What is this I heard about you two gallivanting about the forest, _again?_ What did I tell you?”

Blinky shot Vendel an irritated frown. “ARRRGH!!! and I are well within our rights to go out when we please, Vendel. We’re not whelps.”

“Yes, well clearly you require the same amount of supervision.” Vendel shot back. “Just what were you doing out there? And I swear Blinkous, if you were risking life and limb in an attempt to find that ‘mysterious third party’ I—” Vendel cut off abruptly, his face going slack with shock.

Blinky was understandably confused and concerned. Not that it wasn’t satisfying to see Vendel so bewildered, but in this situation, him finding something that surprised him probably wasn’t good. He wasn’t looking anywhere near the bookshelf Jim was behind, oddly enough. Now even more confused, Blinky followed Vendel’s line of sight and realized with a jolt that, in their haste, they’d left the amulet _out on the table._

“By Deya’s Grace,” Vendel said, absolutely astonished, “you actually found it.”

Blinky laughed somewhat nervously. “Yes. Well you see Vendel, it’s a funny thing actually—”

“How long have you had it?” Vendel asked, some of that familiar grouchiness returning. “You should have come to me immediately, Blinkous, we must get this to Draal.” Vendel moved to grab the amulet.

Blinky moved to stop him, urgently attempting to get his point across. “Now hold on a moment Vendel, you don’t understand—”

Before anyone could even touch the amulet though, it disappeared.

Blinky was torn between relief and panic, while Vendel somehow managed to become more stunned than before. ARRRGH!!! was cringing from the sidelines, subtly protecting Jim’s hiding spot and no doubt wondering if he should intervene in some way.

“Blinkous!” Vendel eventually managed to snap, because if something went haywire of course it was Blinky’s fault. “What is the meaning of this?”

“You see Vendel, that’s—that’s the thing—” Blinky was saved from his mad scramble to explain by a brilliant and familiar flash of light.

The two of them turned to see Jim walk out from behind ARRRGH!!!, suited in the Trollhunter’s armor. For a split second, Blinky was shocked that the boy was revealing himself, and then he realized that the armor’s helmet concealed Jim’s face completely. And with the decorative metal horns that sat atop it, there was no way to distinctly tell that the boy wasn’t a troll.

Blinky could almost grin at the boy’s cleverness. He’d been worried about how he was going to keep his promise while also training Jim to act as Trollhunter, but this… this might just work.

Jim shifted awkwardly. “Uh, hey?” He said with a wave. Next to him, ARRRGH!!! smiled innocently.

Vendel’s face went completely blank. He turned back to Blinky.

“Explain. Now.”

 

* * *

 

 

This was a stupid decision. Agreeing to come to Trollmarket in the first place had been a stupid decision, even if it was better than accidentally exposing the location of the colony. What was Jim doing with his life right now?

It was the amulet’s fault, he decided. It could’ve just let the old, grouchy troll take it away, but _nooo_ , it had to stick with Jim at all times. Because apparently it decided having a human Trollhunter was a good idea, and that he would be the perfect choice for such a job.

Then again, he didn’t have to come to Blinky’s rescue. He could’ve easily let the six-eyed troll flounder his way through whatever explanation he came up with. Except Blinky and ARRRGH!!! had really helped him out, and were keeping him a secret when they could’ve easily gone back on their promise the moment Jim was in Trollmarket. To not try and help in some way just felt wrong to him.

Then he remembered the armor’s helmet, and how Toby hadn’t even recognized him with it on. And, well…

He was regretting it now that he was under the old troll’s scrutiny.

 _Just… act like a troll,_ Jim thought to himself with an unseen grimace, _and ignore the pain. My ankle’s fine, it’s totally fine. Doesn’t even hurt._ The armor did help brace him a little. He should be okay as long as he didn’t have to walk anywhere.

“So you see, Vendel,” Blinky finished, “this is our new Trollhunter, Master, uh…” They all suddenly realized that “Jim” wasn’t a very troll-like name.

“Atlas!” Jim provided quickly.

Blinky’s eyebrows went up, but he said, “Yes. Master Atlas.”

They all waited with baited breath to see if Vendel would actually buy it.

“Rather small,” Vendel eventually said, with a displeased puff of breath. Jim might’ve been offended if he hadn’t been so relieved that the ruse had worked.

Blinky laughed, the sound almost nervous. “Yes, well, as we all know, the amulet chooses who it chooses for a reason.”

Vendel turned to Blinky. “Yes. Thought it has also been known to make mistakes, on occasion.” Blinky flinched, and Jim felt annoyed on his behalf.

That annoyance vanished when he was once again trapped under Vendel’s gaze. He straightened, trying not to fidget. “Draal will not be pleased. And to be frank, neither am I.” Vendel’s eyes narrowed. “You continue to hide your face, young one. Have we met before?”

Jim’s heart rate kicked up a notch. All he could think was, _oh no, this is it, I’ve officially doomed the human race._ Thankfully, Blinky jumped in before Jim could come up with what would no doubt be the wrong response. “Actually, Vendel, we really must continue with Master Atlas’s training. You know how it is…”

That somehow managed to turn Vendel’s attention away from Jim. “You’re training him, Blinkous?” Vendel asked, surprised. When Blinky didn’t respond with anything but a deadpan expression, Vendel actually laughed. “Oh, well this should certainly be good! Then I will leave you to it, _Trollhunter._ ” Vendel gave Jim one last glance as he left. “Let us see how long you last.”

Jim tried to ignore how downright ominous that sounded, watching as Vendel left. When he was certain he was gone, Jim slumped, leaning against the bookshelf to take some weight off his ankle. “Ow. Not my smartest move.”

ARRRGH!!! offered a hand, helping Jim back over to a chair. Blinky, meanwhile, was grinning. “I have to disagree! I’ll admit, I was a little concerned about how you could successfully act as Trollhunter with your reluctance to reveal yourself to anyone, but I think you just solved that problem on your own!”

Jim willed the helmet to disappear, and was a little pleased when it did. He quickly shook off the feeling. He couldn’t be the Trollhunter. He shouldn’t be getting so used to the idea. To this. “Blinky I—I need to leave.”

Blinky’s eyes widened. “If this is about Vendel—”

“It’s not. Not really.” Jim assured. “I just—I can’t be the Trollhunter, okay? I have responsibilities back home and I can’t just abandon them for this. You’re going to have to figure something else out, because there’s no way I can actually do this.”

Blinky’s dismay subsided into consideration. Eventually, he said. “Master Jim, I don’t think you are meant to be a protector of only a single world. I think the amulet chose you to be the protector of two, of both human and troll.”

Jim startled slightly, not expecting that to be Blinky’s response. “What?”

“From what I can tell, Gumm-Gumms are a problem for your people too, are they not?” Jim didn’t answer, but his expression must’ve been enough for Blinky, because he continued. “And other things as well, I’m assuming. By taking up the mantle of Trollhunter, you wouldn’t be protecting us and us alone, you’d be protecting any other humans that happened to be out there as well.”

Jim didn’t know what to say to that. He hadn’t thought of it that way.

“If I may, Master Jim?” Blinky said, regaining Jim’s attention. “Destiny is a gift. Some go their entire lives, living existences of quiet desperation. Never learning the truth, that what feels as though a burden pushing down upon our shoulders is actually a sense of purpose that lifts us to greater heights! Never forget that fear is but the precursor to valor, that to strive and triumph in the face of fear, is what it means to be a hero.”

Jim looked down, the words ringing true with him somehow. It seemed impossible, that he’d be able to pull something like this off. And yet…

Blinky placed a hand on his shoulder, and Jim looked up to meet his eyes. “Don’t think, Master Jim.” Blinky advised. “Become.”

Jim was silent for a while as he processed this.

“Will you at least consider?” Blinky said.

Jim sighed, but managed a small smile. “Alright.” Blinky beamed. “But I really do need to get back. There are people who are probably worried about me. And I should get my ankle looked at by a professional.” Also known as his mom.

Blinky nodded. “Fair enough. ARRRGH!!! and I can sneak you out again come morning. For now, though, I believe there are some things we should discuss.”

Jim nodded; he had a few things to mention himself. “Might as well.”

Though, oddly enough, everything seemed a little less daunting than before.


	5. Chapter 5

It was a beautiful, sunny morning. Barbara hardly noticed, she was in such a panic, because Jim had been gone all night and he _still hadn’t come home_.

He was going to be fine, she told herself. Perfectly fine. Jim was a smart boy, and he traversed those woods everyday. He _had_ to be fine.

Morning melted into early noon, and her panic was only growing.

She was in the middle of organizing a search party—and yes they needed more people than that, of course they did, she didn’t care what noticed them—when there was a commotion at the Barrier.

She rushed over there before anyone could stop her, feeling some frantic mix of hopeful and terrified. She stopped short when she spotted him, limping down the hill with the help of a guard. He found her after a moment, and despite clearly being exhausted and injured, his eyes lit up.

Jim. He was okay. Her baby boy was okay.

Jim gave her a weak smile. “Hey mom.”

 

* * *

 

 

Toby burst into his house. “Dude! What happened! Did you—”

Jim quickly shushed him from where he sat on the couch. Toby stared at him, confused, so he pointed to the kitchen and mouthed, “Mom’s here.”

Toby pursed his lips, but didn’t say anything when she emerged from the kitchen.

“Oh! Hello Toby, I was wondering when you’d stop by.” Barbara said, much more relaxed now that her son was safely home.

“Heh. Yeah, hey Dr. Lake! I would’ve been by earlier but nana needed me…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “Anyway! How’s Jim doing?”

“I’m fine, really.” Jim assured, half to Toby and half to his mom.

“Oh no. Don’t you play that game with me mister; you have a sprained ankle! And who knows how many bruises on top of that…”

“They’re just bruises!” Jim protested.

“Sprained ankle.” Barbara said, wagging her finger. “My point still stands. No walking, for a few days at least.” Jim sighed, but submitted with a nod, knowing there was no way he’d be able to win an argument about anything medical with his mom.

Barbara’s face softened, and she placed the tray she’d been carrying on the coffee table, before leaning down and planting a kiss on Jim’s forehead. “Keep your foot elevated and that compress on your ankle. And take your medicine. It’ll help with the pain. I made you some chicken noodle soup to wash it down with.”

“Oh.” Jim said, eyeing the bowl with a new trepidation. “Yay? Thanks mom,” he turned his gaze to his lap, suddenly feeling guilty. “Sorry I worried you.”

“I always worry.” Barbara corrected gently, combing her fingers through Jim’s hair. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

The tender moment lasted a few seconds longer, before his mother pulled away, back in doctor mode. “I mean it, no walking.” She sighed worriedly. “Maybe I should take the day off…”

“It’s fine mom. Really!” Jim quickly assured. “I’ll be okay. Besides, I’ve got Toby if I need any help.”

Toby did a little salute, grinning. “Yep! Don’t you worry Dr. L, I’ll make sure Jim rests up!”

Barbara smiled slightly. “If you’re sure.”

“Yes, go. The whole colony’s probably falling apart without you around to take care of it.”

Barbara shook her head, though her smile was more genuine now. “If only that wasn’t the truth. I’ll be back later, okay?”

“Sounds good. Love you mom.”

“Love you too.” Barbara said, placing another kiss on Jim’s head, before grabbing her bag and heading for the door. Toby and Jim watched her leave. The moment she was out the door, Toby rounded on him, eyes wide.

“Okay seriously, what happened!” He whispered. “Did you get rid of it?!”

Jim sighed, waited a few seconds more to see if his mom was really gone, before pulling out the amulet. Toby’s eyes, against all odds, went wider.

“What happened to the plan? More importantly, what happened to _you_?” Toby said, looking back and forth between the amulet and his friend. “I thought you were going to get rid of it.”

“Believe me, I tried. I can’t.” Jim said, glancing dejectedly at the amulet. “They said as much.”

Toby blinked. “Whose they? And what do you mean you can’t get rid of it?”

Jim opened his mouth to respond, but decided a demonstration might be better, in this case. So he threw the amulet all the way to the other side of the living room. It landed on the ground with a light ‘thump.’

Toby stared at its new position for a moment. “I don’t get it.”

“Just watch.”

A few more seconds passed. The amulet didn’t disappoint, disappearing and reappearing in Jim’s lap a moment later.

“Whoa,” Toby said, “Okay, that’s pretty cool. How’s it work?”

“Well apparently, I’m its new Trollhunter.” Jim explained, picking up the amulet once more. “It’s bonded to me. I literally cannot get rid of it.”

Toby’s face went blank as he processed this. “Maybe you should start from the beginning?”

So Jim did, internally relieved that he finally had someone to tell about how insane his night had actually been. He told Toby about everything: his encounter with the Gumm-Gumm, jumping into the river, Blinky and ARRRGH!!! and Trollmarket, the close call with Vendel; he didn’t leave out a single detail. He wasn’t going to lie, it felt good. And all at once he was infinitely grateful to have a friend like Toby, who he could trust completely with information like this.

“That’s a lot.” Toby finally said, when the story was finished. “So, what now? Are you going to do it?”

“What? Be the Trollhunter?” Jim shook his head. “I don’t know. I mean, what Blinky said about being able to help… well, us, too? No one’s ever been able to do that before.”

Toby leaned forward, eyes wide. “So you want to?”

“I—I mean, kind of? I don’t know how, but I at least want to maybe… try?” Jim said with an unsure shrug. “What do you think?”

Toby placed a hand to his chin, looking thoughtful. “I think, if you really think we can trust them—you do right?”

Jim made a so-so gesture with his hand. “So far. They weren’t actually… bad, like you’d think? They were people, like any of us, just…”

“Trolls.” Toby finished.

“Yeah. They could’ve turned on me basically whenever, but they didn’t. That says a lot.”

“Alright, then I’d call that trustworthy. For now, at least.” Toby decided. “And since they’re trustworthy, then I think all of this is kind of awesome.”

Jim laughed, raising an eyebrow. “Seriously Tobes?”

“Uh, yeah? Jim, you were literally chosen by a magical amulet to protect mankind—”

“Troll kind, Toby.”

“Both.” Toby amended. “That’s pretty awesome. And you’re always saying how life in the colony is boring. Well the universe has answered your calls; this is, like, the exact opposite of boring.”

“Yeah, it’s also dangerous.” Jim pointed out.

Toby shrugged. “So’s scavenging.”

“Not if you do it right.”

“Says the guy who’s snuck into the Upper City of Trollmarket more times than anyone, probably.” Jim rolled his eyes, shoving Toby’s shoulder good-naturedly. Toby laughed. “It’s true!”

“That still doesn’t involve me directly interacting with trolls. Or fighting them.” Jim said, sobering a little. “What if I expose us?”

“Hey, don’t overthink it.” Toby said. “It’s risky, yeah, but you’ve got the armor right? You totally can’t tell you’re human when it’s on. I mean, you’d be pretty skinny for a troll, but it works. It’s like you have a secret identity, or something!” Toby grinned. “Besides, the Barrier’s in place for a reason. We can all hide out in the colony if worst comes to worst.”

“You mean _you_ can hide out in the colony. If the council finds out about this, I’ll probably be banished.” Jim said.

Toby cringed. “Yeah, you’re probably right about that one. What’d you say to them, anyway?”

“That I tripped down a hill and fell into the river, and that when I woke up I immediately climbed a tree and hid out for the whole night.”

“With a sprained ankle?”

“It was a good tree. Lots of low branches. Really, I was lucky I ran into it when I did.” Jim paraphrased the excuse he’d given to the council with a wry smile. “I’m still alive, so it wasn’t that hard for them to believe. Honestly, I think they’d take any lie better than what actually happened.”

“No kidding.” Toby agreed, nodding to himself. “Okay, so what’s the plan? You said you were meeting up with them in…”

“Five days.” Jim reminded him. “That’s what I told them. I should be able to convince mom to let me out again by then. I’ll at least be healed up enough to sneak out if I need to.”

Toby looked thoughtful, before his facial expression steeled with resolve. “I’m coming with you then.”

Jim hadn’t been expecting that. “You don’t have to do that, Tobes.” He assured his friend.

Toby waved him off, like it was no big deal. “Like I’m going to let you deal with all this craziness on your own. Who else will save your butt if this all goes sideways? Besides,” Toby grinned, “Meeting some trolls that don’t want to kill me? That sounds pretty cool.”

For a moment, Jim was speechless. Then he smiled. “Thanks Tobes.”

“That’s what friends are for. On to the important part, though…” Toby rubbed his hands together eagerly. “Now that I’m your sidekick, can I get some kind of cool magical weapon too? Like a war hammer, or…”

As Toby talked, Jim felt some of his stress ease. Maybe they could handle this after all.

 

* * *

 

 

Night two of Jim’s mom-enforced bed rest, he got an unexpected visitor.

He’d been up in his room, reading, when there was a knock at the front door downstairs. He ignored it, assuming it was someone for his mom. The only person who ever came to visit him was Toby, and he never knocked anyways.

He continued to tune out the greetings downstairs when his mom unexpectedly called, “Jim! You’ll never guess who’s stopped by! Do you want me to send them up?”

Jim paused, then set his book down and reached for his crutches. “Nah, I can come down!”

His mom was disapproving, as expected. “You need to be resting that ankle!”

But he was already on his feet and heading for the stairs. “I’ll be fine, mom! I could use a quick stretch.” He really could; he’d been sitting around all day, and it was making him stir-crazy.

Barbara seemed to have given in, because there were no further protests. Jim slowly crutched his way down the stairs, being extra careful not to trip and prove his mom right. So focused he was on this that he didn’t look up to see who was there until he reached the bottom of the staircase. When he did, his eyes widened.

“Mr. Strickler!” Jim said, pleasantly surprised.

Mr. Strickler smiled at him from where he sat at the counter. He wasn’t in the practical scavenging clothes Jim had grown used to seeing him in, dressed instead in a much crisper looking turtleneck and jacket. “Hello, Jim. I heard about what happened the other night. What terrible luck.”

Jim laughed a little awkwardly. “Yeah, no kidding. When did you get admittance to the colony? I can’t believe I missed it.”

“Not to worry, I won’t hold it against you.” Mr. Strickler said. “It was just this morning, actually. A handful of my companions and I were officially granted entrance, and after so long. The colony truly is as beautiful as everyone says.”

Jim took a seat on the couch, so as not to risk his mom’s wrath for walking too much. “I’m glad you finally get to see it.”

Strickler nodded. “As am I.”

Barbara reappeared from the kitchen. “Here’s that tea, Mr. Strickler.” She held the cup out to him.

“Ah, thank you.”

“So what are you doing here?” He asked curiously.

Mr. Strickler took a sip of his tea, and Jim sympathized with him greatly when he choked on it shortly after. It seemed his mom had struck again. Strickler took a second to regain his bearings, trying to be subtle about his coughing. Barbara was too busy working on her own cup of tea to notice.

“Ahem—mn, I came to check up on you, actually.” Mr. Strickler finally managed. “How’s the ankle?”

Jim shrugged. “Healing. Really, it wasn’t that bad.”

“Yes, well from what I’ve heard you were quite lucky. You were out the whole night, weren’t you?” Strickler observed him carefully. “You didn’t happen to run into any Gumm-Gumms, did you?”

“Oh, no.” Jim assured, lying through his teeth. He felt bad about it, but there wasn’t any going back now. “I wasn’t anywhere near their usual places. I guess I was kind of lucky.”

“Hm, indeed.” Mr. Strickler agreed, almost taking another sip of his tea. He remembered last minute that that was a bad idea, and instead placed his cup on the counter. “Did you ever manage to reach that place you were looking for?”

“Yeah, actually.” Jim told him. “You’re directions really helped. Thanks again.”

Mr. Strickler nodded, looking thoughtful. “I see. I’m glad I was able to assist.” After a moment, he stood. “It was good speaking with you, young Atlas. Do try not to overwork yourself while that ankle is healing.”

“Oh, you’re leaving? But you haven’t even finished your tea.” Barbara said.

“My apologies, but I promised some of my colleagues that I’d help them settle in. Though it was lovely speaking with you, Ms. Lake.”

Barbara smiled, holding out her hand. “Please, call me Barbara.”

“Barbara,” Mr. Strickler took her hand, placing a gentlemanly kiss on her knuckles, “delighted to meet you.”

With that, Mr. Strickler stood, smoothing out his jacket and turning to leave. “Evening, young Atlas.” He said, as he headed for the door. Jim nodded slowly, mildly bewildered by the interaction he’d just witnessed.

“He seems nice.” His mom said, after Mr. Strickler left. She took a sip of her tea, only to cringe when she, too, realized how awful it was.

“Yeah, he is.” Jim agreed, wondering at the brief visit.

Barbara nodded, picking up the two cups of tea to properly dispose of them. “Is he single?”

Jim spluttered for a second, shocked by the question. “W-what? I don’t know.”

His mom laughed.

 

* * *

 

 

It was around day three that Jim’s stir-crazy levels reached maximum.

Naturally, he went to the kitchen to cook. He was debating whether to try and bake something or get a head start on dinner, when he realized they were low on several important ingredients. It didn’t take him long to deduce that this was because his mom had insisted on cooking these past few days, and, well, that was pretty self explanatory.

So he wrote up a list of everything they needed, with plans to send Toby or his mom to pick everything up for him when they had the chance. Except his mom was busy, and Toby was at the orthodontist again, and Jim still had nothing to do.

He sat on the couch for a while, trying to occupy himself with a book, but it didn’t last. His ankle had started to feel better. As long as he used his crutches, he was completely fine when it came to walking, and the market wasn’t far. Why couldn’t he pick up what he needed on his own?

Decided, he wrote a note and set it on the counter, just in case his mom came home early. Then he grabbed his bag and his list, and headed out the door.

No one bothered him as he made his way to and through the market. And even if his arms were killing him, he could hardly bring himself to care. He was just glad to be out of the house. He went about getting what he needed with a smile on his face.

It wasn’t until he’d gotten just about everything that he realized he might’ve overestimated his ability to carry it all. He stopped next to the park, shifting his hold on everything for what felt like the hundredth time, while simultaneously trying not to drop his crutches. Okay. He had this. He could switch that bag to that hand, and if he could just fit some stuff inside his own bag without losing his left crutch…

He was balanced precariously on one foot when someone said, “Do you want some help?”

Jim nearly dropped everything in surprise, but managed to save it last minute. “Phew.” He rebalanced, turning to the person who had spoken, and was startled to find Claire Nuñez standing next to him. His mind went blank, as he completely forgot whatever response he’d prepared. “O-oh! Claire. Hey!”

Claire smiled, “Hey. It’s Jim, right?”

“Uh, yes! Yep, that’s me!” He nearly dropped everything a second time, and cursed, trying not to embarrass himself in front of the girl he just happened to have a huge crush on. What had she said again? What was he going to say?

Claire was suddenly there, taking some of the stuff he was carrying with a giggle. Jim’s brain practically short-circuited at the sudden proximity. “Alright. You definitely need my help.”

“Well—I mean—” Jim sighed, giving up on salvaging whatever dignity he’d had. “Yeah, I might’ve overestimated my abilities.”

“I guess it’s lucky I found you then.” Claire said, with what Jim thought had to be the most beautiful smile in the world. Ugh, Toby was right, he really was head over heels for this girl. “You headed home?”

“I’m sorry, you really don’t have to walk me all the way back there.” Jim told her. “I can manage.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I wasn’t doing much anyway.” Claire assured him. “Lead the way.”

After an unsure moment, Jim did just that, more than a little dazed. Was this actually happening? He glanced at Claire, and yep, it was.

They walked for several minutes in silence, when Claire said. “I heard what happened to you. That must’ve sucked, being stuck outside the colony at night like that.”

It took Jim a second to craft a response. “Yeah, it was pretty unlucky. But I made it back, so that’s… good.” Good. Was that seriously the best he could come up with?

“Yeah, definitely. I heard you climbed a tree to stay hidden.” Claire looked at him, her expression undeniably curious. “Why a tree? I mean, there have to be other hiding spots, right? Ones that are easier to get to with a sprained ankle.”

Jim blinked. “There are,” he admitted, “but trees have always worked the best for me. As long as you’re quiet, they rarely look at the branches too closely. Mr. Strickler told me it’s because they’re usually more focused on watching for the sun, when they do look up.”

Claire seemed intrigued by this fact. “Really?”

“I mean, there are probably exceptions?” Jim admitted. “But as a general rule, it’s a pretty good option: hear a troll, climb a tree.”

“What are trolls like? How many have you seen?”

Jim considered that, puzzled. “Haven’t you ever seen one?” He asked. Even the most cautious colony-dwelling people had seen a troll at least once, as far as he knew.

Claire blinked, and blushed. “From a distance, but it’s not exactly the same.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, I was being a little intense, wasn’t I?”

“No, no, you’re fine!” Jim quickly assured her. “Really, I’m just not used to people being so interested. I get a few questions, but…” he laughed. “Okay, so trolls are pretty big, I guess. Most of them anyway. And they vary when it comes to colors and features and stuff…”

They spent the majority of the walk discussing trolls, and some of the more common things Jim saw when he was out scavenging. He was surprised by how fascinated Claire seemed by it all. Most people tended to shudder at the idea of his job, especially when it came to Gumm-Gumms. But Claire only asked questions about how to best avoid them, and if Jim had ever had any close encounters with them before.

By the time they neared his house, he was feeling more comfortable holding a conversation with Claire. Finally he asked, “You know, if you’re so interested in scavenging, why don’t you train for it? Instead of trying to be, what was it, a scholar?”

Claire huffed. “My parents are… pretty picky, about what I do. They kind of just want me to stay safe in the colony and stick to all the studious stuff, y’know? Which is fine, I guess, and I like learning it all, but I don’t know,” she shrugged, “it just seems like there’s so much to learn outside the colony too.”

He stared at her, mildly amazed. “Wow. That’s got to be the first time I’ve ever heard anyone say that.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s not exactly a popular opinion.” Claire agreed.

“I think it’s pretty cool.” Jim told her. And suddenly, he was struck with an insane idea. He forced himself to speak before he lost his nerve. “If you ever want to check it out, I’d be happy to take you.”

Claire’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yeah, sure.” Jim said, trying to play it cool and ignore his internal screaming. “I’m a pretty good scavenger. I can take you wherever you want to go, no problem.”

Claire grinned, “Alright then, Mr. scavenger. I might take you up on that offer sometime.”

Jim smiled, feeling warm. “Awesome! Great! Sounds like a plan.” He looked ahead, and was disappointed to find his house waiting for him. It had to end eventually, he supposed. “Uh, this is me up here.” He told her.

Claire nodded. “You want help carrying everything inside?”

“…That’d be nice.”

Claire got the door for him, and they made their way over to the counter. Once everything was settled, Jim walked her to the door. She looked ready to leave, but paused just as she was about to.

“Hey, so there’s this play we’re doing. For Founder’s Day?” Claire said. “It’s Romeo and Juliet, and we’ve kind of had some trouble getting boys to sign up, so would you maybe want to?” She gave him a hopeful smile.

Jim wouldn’t have been able to say no even if he wanted to. “Oh, uh, sure! Sounds fun, I love… that play.”

Claire grinned brightly. “Great! Auditions are in a couple days, and rehearsals are at 3:30. I’ll see you then!” And at that, Claire turned and left.

“Yeah, okay! See you then!” Jim agreed, waving.

That had to be the best experience he’d ever had.

Wait a second, what did he just agree to?


	6. Chapter 6

“I can’t believe you signed up for the play.” Toby said, from his spot seated on a boulder. “We’re kind of in the middle of more important stuff right now?”

“Ugh, I didn’t mean to! I mean, I guess I did mean too but…” He buried his head in his hands. “It’s Claire! That was like, the first time I’ve actually talked to her. What was I supposed to do?”

Toby shrugged. “I don’t know, man. At least you talked to her this time, instead of ogling with heart eyes from a distance. Though technically she talked to you, I guess…”

Jim shot Toby a look. “I don’t ogle.”

“Yeah, you kinda do.”

Jim sighed, giving up. “Alright, well now’s not the time to be debating this. They should be here soon.” He started up his pacing again, going back and forth along the edge of the clearing he’d told Blinky and ARRRGH!!! to meet him in. It was a relatively flat, open space, often overlooked due to the thick foliage around it. The only reason he knew it was there was because he’d literally stumbled upon it in his early scavenging years when he thought he’d heard a troll. “This was a bad idea, wasn’t it?”

“Jimbo, you’re overthinking this.” Toby said. “Besides, we’re already out here. At night.” Toby glanced at the masses of shadows around him. He laughed nervously. “C’mon, it’s not creepy at all.”

Jim stopped his pacing, forcing himself to relax. “Thanks again Tobes.”

“Hey, it’s what I’m here for.”

They were silent for a little bit. The moon cast a soft glow above them, lighting the clearing in pale hues. It was just enough light for them to see by.

“So…” Toby said, hopping off the boulder, “when do you think they’ll get here?”

“Soon.” Jim decided, doing the math in his head. The sun had gone down about an hour ago, and if they left from the same cave as before then… “We should probably get in position.”

“Oh, yay. Hiding in a bush.” Toby cheered unenthusiastically.

“You can climb a tree instead?”

“Nope. The bush works.” Toby quickly amended. “Tree climbing is your thing, not mine. Which I’m still not sure you should be doing, by the way. Isn’t your ankle still healing?”

“I’ll be fine. I can walk on it and everything.” Jim assured him, pointedly putting weight on his ankle.

“Your mom said you’re not supposed to strain it.” Toby said skeptically.

“I’ll be careful.” Jim promised.

Toby accepted this with a nod, but hesitated in heading to his own hiding spot. He placed a hand on Jim’s arm. “Really be careful, okay? Not just with the ankle. Make sure I don’t actually have to sneak away and go for help.”

“I’ll do my best.” He offered Toby a fist bump.

After a moment, Toby returned it, before turning and disappearing into a bush. Jim took a second to be sure his friend couldn’t be seen. Satisfied, he went to the tree he’d selected nearby: a sturdy oak on the edge of the clearing. He shimmied his way up the trunk—mindful not to overly strain his ankle on the way, as promised—and found a seat amongst its tangle of branches. Then he waited.

Blinky and ARRRGH!!! didn’t keep him waiting long. There was a rustling sound, followed by the two of them stumbling into the clearing, ARRRGH!!! brushing leaves and twigs out of his fur.

Holding perfectly still, Jim watched to see what would happen.

 

* * *

 

 

“This the place?” ARRRGH!!! asked him.

“Yes, it should be.” Blinky agreed, examining the map. “Through here, if I got Master Jim’s directions right.” He rolled up the map, and assessed the short, downward slope before him. A few animal trails cut through the greenery, but there was hardly any passage wide enough for a troll.

ARRRGH!!! glanced at him doubtfully.

“Master Jim did say it was well hidden. Come, there must be a better entrance.” They walked along the top of the slope until they found a more reasonable gap for them to go through. It’d be a tight fit, but they’d be able to manage it. And with only some mild cursing from Blinky, they did.

When they came out the other side, there was a clearing just as Jim had said. Blinky grinned, absently pulling a twig out of his hair. “See? We made it.”

ARRRGH!!! nodded in agreement. “Where’s Jim?”

Blinky blinked, before giving the clearing a more thorough scan. Their human Trollhunter was nowhere in sight. “That’s a very good question.” Blinky frowned, rechecking the map. “I’m sure this is the right spot. Do you think something happened?”

_Did he decide not to show up?_ Blinky quickly tried to brush the worry aside. Master Jim hadn’t seemed like the type to pull something like that. Still, the concern niggled at the back of his mind like the pest it was.

Before he had the chance to worry too much, however, Jim’s voice rang through the clearing. “Actually, I’m up here guys.”

They both looked around, trying to pinpoint the source. ARRRGH!!!, who found him first, tapped Blinky on the shoulder and pointed. Blinky looked up and found Jim straddling a tree branch, waving at them.

“I see.” Blinky said. He was understandably surprised, but in a good way. “Master Jim! I was worried there for a second. Why, pray tell, are you in a tree?”

The boy looked a little sheepish. “Sorry. I wanted to be sure it was really just you two.”

Blinky nodded, hardly bothered by the caution. It made sense. “Not to worry, Master Jim, we understand.”

“Smart.” ARRRGH!!! agreed.

Jim seemed relieved. “Thanks. Hang on a sec, let me get down.” Jim shifted, and Blinky was fairly certain he was preparing to jump. His assumption was proven right in the most unexpected way.

“Don’t you dare jump!” An unfamiliar voice ordered.

Both ARRRGH!!! and Blinky startled slightly. Jim froze, before looking down at someone neither troll could see, aghast. “Toby!”

Blinky and ARRRGH!!! shared a curious look. Blinky opened his mouth to ask about the surprise guest, but stopped in his tracks when a head of red hair popped out of the bushes.

Blinky instantly had to work to contain himself because that was another _human_! By Deya, he’d seen _two_ of them now! Two whole humans! If only—

ARRRGH!!! placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a knowing look. “Blinky.”

Blinky took another breath. “Yes, right, I know.” ARRRGH!!! hummed, looking amused.

Meanwhile, the conversation before them continued. “Your ankle Jim! You’re not jumping out of a tree!”

“You were supposed to stay hidden!”

“You were supposed to be careful!”

The two humans had a sort of staring contest. Jim was the one that eventually gave in. “I forgot. Sorry.” He admitted, looking just a little guilty. “You were still supposed to stay hidden.”

Toby shrugged. “They seemed pretty chill.”

Jim sighed, but began to make his way down the tree, more safely this time. As if this were an unspoken signal, his shorter, stouter friend maneuvered out of his hiding place as well. Jim reached the ground shortly after.

A silent conversation seemed to pass between the two humans, before Jim nodded and turned back to Blinky and ARRRGH!!! “This is my best friend, Toby.” He introduced. Toby waved. “He asked to come. Tobes, this is Blinky and ARRRGH!!!”

“Hi.” ARRRGH!!! waved back.

“Pleasure.” Blinky greeted cheerily, absolutely meaning it.

Toby seemed a little wary, which Blinky expected at this point, but otherwise very calm in their presence. The shorter human smiled at them and returned the greeting. The words were lost on Blinky though, too distracted by the metal glinting in the boy’s mouth.

“Gorgus, what is on your teeth?” Blinky blurted before he could stop himself.

Fortunately, Toby didn’t seem offended, merely surprised. “Oh. You mean my braces?” He grinned wide to show off his teeth, tapping a finger against the mentioned “braces.” “They’re to make my teeth straight. I’m getting them off in a year or two.”

For several seconds, Blinky just stared. “Fascinating.” He eventually breathed.

That startled a laugh out of Jim, which was enough to bring Blinky back to himself. He shot the boy a questioning look.

“Sorry.” Jim said with a guilty smile. “That… wasn’t what I was expecting.”

“No need for apologies.” Blinky decided after a moment. “I’d say this is new territory for everyone present.”

“Definitely.” Master Jim agreed, sharing a glance with his friend. When Jim didn’t say anything else, Toby nudged him with his elbow. “You said something about, uh, training, last time?” Jim added tentatively.

The words surprised Blinky for a second, and then he beamed. So they had a Trollhunter, after all.

Suddenly five whole days of dodging Vendel and Draal were completely worth it.

 

* * *

 

 

If someone had told Jim a week ago that, someday very soon, he’d sneak into Trollmarket willingly, he would have seriously questioned their sanity.

Yet there he was, questioning his own sanity because he was going to do just that. And all while planning to maybe do it again many more times in the foreseeable future.

At least he wasn’t going to be smuggled in in a burlap sack like last time. You had to appreciate the little things, he supposed.

Blinky, ever prepared, had brought a disguise with him, consisting of a dark, poncho-cloak sort of thing and a wooden tribal mask. It had been meant for Jim, but Toby was the one who was wearing it. The hooded garment went down to his ankles, and made him look a bit like a shorter version of the grim reaper. Toby was less than impressed, but didn’t complain. Much.

However, Blinky had only brought the one disguise—he’d assumed they’d only be in the company of one human that night—which meant Jim was stuck relying on the armor. Which wasn’t awful, it had already been proven to work and everything; it was just way flashier than Jim would’ve liked. He was going to end up drawing a lot more attention than he wanted.

Blinky said it was probably for the best, considering everyone was beginning to wonder just where their new Trollhunter was. It would be good for the citizens of Trollmarket to see “Master Atlas” out in the open, and know that he actually existed. Jim didn’t like it in the slightest, but felt bad that he’d left Blinky and ARRRGH!!! to deal with that whole mess on their own for five days, so he didn’t complain either.

And now they were on their way to Trollmarket, heading towards the same back entrance that Jim had been smuggled in and out of on that first night. Blinky and ARRRGH!!! led the way, while he and Toby followed, dressed in their respective disguises. This was going to be a quick visit, Jim assured himself. Just to get an idea of everything he was getting into before he really… got into it. It would be fine.

“You left that note for you mom, right? In case she gets home early?” Toby whispered to him, lifting his mask slightly so his voice would carry better.

“Yeah. She’ll think I’m at your house.” Jim said, just as quiet. Even if Blinky and ARRRGH!!! were trustworthy, he wanted them to know as little about the colony as possible, at least for now. Risking his own life was one thing, risking everyone else’s was not an option.

“And nana won’t even know I’m gone. Awesome.” Toby offered him a fist bump. “We’re pretty good at this sneaking out thing.”

Jim returned the fist bump. “Let’s hope so, because we kind of need to be now.” He gave Toby a worried glance, not that his friend could see it through the helmet. “You sure you want to do this? We can always head back, and I’ll go on my own tomorrow—”

“Nope!” Toby interrupted. “I said I had your back and I do. But that reminds me,” he looked at Jim, “Jimbo. I need you to teach me how to be a scavenger.”

Jim blinked rapidly. He hadn’t expected that request in the slightest. “What? Seriously?”

“Yeah seriously,” Toby said, “I’ve been thinking about this. If I’m gonna be your sidekick, I need an excuse to be out here. And scavenging seems like its gonna work for you, so…” Toby shrugged. “I’ll be a scavenger. It’s fullproof!”

For a second, Jim didn’t know what to say. “That’s… you really are the best, Tobes.”

Toby grinned, before slotting his mask back into place. “I know. But seriously, you’ll have to teach me like, everything.”

“We’ll scavenge together.” Jim promised.

“We’re almost there!” Blinky interjected, glancing back at them with an eager expression. “Are you ready, Master Jim? Or rather, Master Atlas.”

Jim nodded, spotting a familiar cave up ahead. The entrance they were looking for was inside. Before he could say something like, “As I’ll ever be,” he stopped, listening. He looked around, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. It almost felt like they were being watched.

“What’s wrong Jimbo?” Toby asked, looking around and seeing nothing, just as Jim had.

When several more seconds past and nothing happened, he tried to shake the feeling off. “I thought I heard something, but…” Jim shrugged. “It was probably just raccoons. Let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

 

It was not just raccoons.

Someone had been watching, and they weren’t the stranger Jim might have imagined them to be.

Stricklander moved steadily through the night, in troll form, of course. Being human had its uses, but wouldn’t get you far at night in a world ruled by trolls.

He was deeply considering his latest findings, or rather his recent confirmation of the suspicions he’d already had. Truly, he’d been hoping he was wrong. Young Atlas had always been one of his favorite students, after all.

The first ever human Trollhunter. How unfortunate.

He stopped in a seemingly random place, putting his thoughts aside. There wasn’t much he could do for the boy now. Behind him, Bular emerged from the shadows, unbelievably quiet for a troll of his size.

“So?” Gunmar’s son asked.

Stricklander turned to face him. “It seems my suspicions were correct.”

For a moment, Bular was disbelieving. “That scrawny little fleshbag? The Trollhunter?” He scoffed, but added after a pause, “He should be pathetically easy to kill.”

“And yet,” Sticklander said, “you let him escape.”

Bular’s scowl instantly deepened. “If I’d known—”

“That hardly matters, Bular. The fact of the matter is that you had the perfect opportunity to take the amulet, and you let it wash down a river.” Stricklander folded his hands neatly behind his back. “Your father will be greatly disappointed.”

Bular snarled in warning, taking an aggressive step forward. “I will retrieve the amulet! It will be easy. If you would just provide me entrance to the human’s colony, we could be done with it!”

It was Stricklander’s turn to scoff. “Oh? And what will you do? Kill him? As if that won’t draw attention. Humans tend to notice when a member of their colony gets slaughtered within its walls. All our plans would be ruined.” Stricklander hummed thoughtfully. “The first human Trollhunter. This will require some… finesse.”

Bular narrowed his eyes, displeased. “I resent your weak, devious ways, impure. I only respect force.”

“And I respect your father. If you ever want to see him again, _adapt._ ” Stricklander said, never one to let Bular intimidate him into submission.

Bular was silent as he considered this argument, and then he turned and left—though not before shooting Stricklander one last sneer. Stricklander was unfazed; that was the closest thing he was going to get to an agreement from Bular.

It hardly mattered what the troll felt about the issue. Stricklander was in control now.

And there was much to be done.

 


	7. Chapter 7

Trollmarket was unexpectedly… incredible.

Jim hadn’t had the chance to really see it last time, what with all the panicking and the sneaking around, but it was amazing. After he’d gotten over his initial discomfort over walking around in plain view of who-knows-how-many trolls, he caught himself gawking at things more than once. It was all so different from the colony, and yet so similar at the same time.

He wasn’t as obvious about it as Toby, at least, who kept slowing down to look at things, shouting the names of any minerals he saw in his excitement.

Even so, it was hard not to notice the whispers and stares they got as they went deeper into Trollmarket. Or rather, the stares _Jim_ was getting. The armor glinted in the underground lighting, a silver-blue beacon that was reminding him why he’d been so reluctant to use it as a disguise in the first place. He did his best to ignore the looks, making sure Toby stayed close all the while.

One troll seemed about to approach them, much to Jim’s mild horror. Thankfully, ARRRGH!!! interfered before they got close, purposefully stepping in the way of the stranger and blocking Jim and Toby from view. Internally, Jim sighed in relief.

“Thank you.” Jim muttered, just loud enough for ARRRGH!!! to hear.

ARRRGH!!! nodded.

“Dude,” Toby whispered, leaning in close, “this place is awesome-sauce!”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Jim agreed, momentarily letting himself get taken by it all again.

“Is the Upper City anything like this?” Toby asked, curious, unintentionally gaining the attention of their two troll companions.

Jim, not noticing this attention, shook his head and answered. “It’s cool but… not even close to this.”

“Not to interrupt Master J—Atlas,” Blinky said, looking intrigued, “but how would you know that?”

Jim clammed up, unsure of how to respond. “Uh…”

“Jim’s a scavenger.” Toby informed the trolls. “He goes a lot of places most of us don’t go.”

“Toby.” Jim hissed, elbowing his friend in the side.

“What? They didn’t know that?” Toby said. Jim didn’t reply. “Oh. Whoops?”

If Blinky hadn’t been invested in the conversation before, he absolutely was now. “A scavenger? And what exactly does that title entail?”

Jim shifted uncomfortably. “Er, scavenging… for stuff?” He answered vaguely, unsure of how much he should say.

Blinky seemed to pause. “Yes, I suppose the name is rather self-explanatory.” He agreed, shooting Jim a knowing look. “You’re welcome to tell us when you’re uncomfortable answering something about, well… you know. ARRRGH!!! and I will hardly hold it against you.”

Jim flushed; glad no one could see it behind his helmet. “Sorry Blinky.” He said, feeling bad about his continued wariness. Then, after a moment, he added, “Scavengers go out and collect the things we can’t get at home. There aren’t a lot of us, since it’s a pretty dangerous job. I’ve been doing it for about… three years, now.”

Blinky perked up at the information. “Interesting.” Then he frowned. “Not to make assumptions, Master Atlas, but if this job has led you to the Upper City, then…”

Jim quickly caught onto what he was saying. “Oh, no, no, I don’t steal!” As it was, most of the items trolls favored were hardly worth stealing, being either useless or unappealing to humanity as a whole. “Honestly, I don’t do much scavenging in the Upper City anyway, it’s mostly, um…” Jim cleared his throat awkwardly. “Personal interest, actually.”

Blinky raised an eyebrow. “Personal interest?”

“Well, not originally, I guess.” Jim admitted, “But yeah. You pick up some useful things by sitting on the rooftops and just… observing. Which actually sounds kind of creepy, now that I say that out loud…”

“Not to worry, Master Atlas,” Blinky chuckled good-naturedly, “I assure you, I can understand such curiosity.”

Huh. He hadn’t thought about it that way. After a moment, he offered carefully. “Look, there are some things I can’t talk about, but… I guess I can answer a few questions, if you have them.”

When he next glanced at Blinky, the six-eyed troll was barely containing his excitement. Jim suddenly found himself wondering if he’d regret the offer sometime in the near future.

“We’ll discuss this later,” Blinky promised with a delighted grin, “for now, let us finish the tour, shall we?”

Jim nodded, and they continued on their way. Nothing particularly memorable happened in the following minutes; mostly just hushed exclamations from Toby, and Blinky’s random history lessons about any landmarks they saw. They passed a couple of gnomes, which he made a point of avoiding; the little guys were wildcards on the best of days. Then Toby—who’d managed to wander a little ways ahead of them—came running back, bursting with excitement. “Dude, check this out! Maximum coolosity over here!”

Curious, and more than a little concerned about Toby continuously straying from the group, Jim followed. He rounded the corner Toby had disappeared around, and his breath caught in his throat, because rooted right in the center of Trollmarket was the biggest crystal he had ever seen. It glowed a warm orange, and it was just… wow.

“Whoa,” he found himself whispering as he joined Toby’s side, “look at that, it’s amazing.”

“Hearthstone.” ARRRGH!!! told him.

“The life force of trollkind,” Blinky continued, in more depth, “the means that keeps us from crumbling to stone, and the source of light and sustenance.”

Toby looked at Jim, and Jim could tell he was grinning under the mask, “Now _that_ is the bomb.”

Before Jim could voice any agreement, there was an angry shout behind them, “YOU!”

They all turned. For a second, Jim hoped that they were just overhearing some random altercation, and that he wasn’t going to be involved in any way. Then his eyes found the furious blue troll storming over to them, clearly focused on him, and all those hopes were crushed.

“Uh, Blinky…” Jim asked, eager for any way out of the situation.

Blinky cringed. “This was bound to happen eventually, I suppose.”

Jim stared at him. That didn’t make him feel better about the situation in the slightest. Neither was being abruptly grabbed from behind in the few seconds he’d had his back turned to the troll.

He yelped, which probably wasn’t something a Trollhunter should do, but the furious troll that was suddenly _way_ too close for comfort was understandably startling.

“So,” the strange troll snarled, “our supposed Trollhunter has finally decided to show himself. Atlas, is it?”

“Um,” Jim leaned back as far as he was able, but wasn’t quite able to escape the tight hold the troll had on his shoulder. “Yes? Who—”

“You must’ve been training hard these past few nights, considering no one’s seen you _at all_.” The blue troll plowed right through Jim’s attempts to speak, his words sharpened with growing anger. “And now here you are, waltzing about in your armor. What is it you’re trying to prove, exactly?”

“I don’t—” A crowd was gathering to witness the mayhem, and that was definitely not helping him formulate a response that wouldn’t get him pummeled. “N-nothing! Really, I just—”

“Nothing?” The troll cut him off with a sneer. “Because it almost seems like you’re trying to flaunt this madness in my face!”

With a nervous laugh, Blinky attempted to intervene. “Really Draal, I believe there’s been a bit of a misunderstanding—”

Draal scoffed, his expression disbelieving. “A misunderstanding? You’ve been avoiding me all week!” Jim stumbled back as Draal released him and slammed a fist into the ground. “And now you expect me to accept that the amulet chose this—this—” Draal said something in trollish. It wasn’t a word Jim had an exact translation for, but he’d heard it used enough times by angry vendors in the Upper City to get the gist of it.

“Draal!” Blinky scolded, aghast at the language.

With a glare, ARRRGH!!! came to Jim’s defense. “Amulet chose,” he said simply.

If anything, this only seemed to enrage Draal further. “Bushigal! I am Draal, son of Kanjigar, and the amulet’s rightful heir!”

And suddenly, everything clicked into place with a horrible clarity. Jim balked. “You’re his son?!” He turned to Blinky, alarmed. “He’s his _son?!_ ”

Blinky cringed and shrugged, as if to say “what are you going to do?”

Toby, who’d been watching in shocked silence, added, “Yeah, I can see how this could be a problem.”

“When my father fell, the honor should have passed to me.” Before Jim could react, Draal reached out and attempted to pry the amulet off his chest. A jolt of panic went through him; if the armor deactivated now, it’d be over. The whole colony could be exposed.

“Hey, hands off!” Jim ordered with a confidence fueled only by the idea of how much worse things would get if Draal managed to take the amulet. He tried to push the troll’s hand away, but being human meant he was sorely outmatched in the strength department.

Thankfully, the amulet decided to work with him for once. After a few more moments of this struggle, there was a bright flash, and a sudden, powerful force had the two of them flying apart. Jim went straight back into ARRRGH!!!, while Draal hit the ground a good distance away in the opposite direction.

Jim blinked spots out of his eyes, just as shocked as Draal was at this turn of events.

Holding Jim up for emphasis, ARRRGH!!! repeated more firmly. “Amulet _chose_.”

Draal narrowed his eyes, practically seething. “We’ll see about that.”

Blinky cleared his throat, “Well, there’s still much to do. Come.” ARRRGH!!! set Jim back on his feet as Blinky hurried their little group along. They edged around Draal and the observing crowd with as much casualness as they could manage. Draal watched them go, still glaring. “Trollhunting business, you understand. Wonderful to see you Draal, as always.”

Toby caught up to Jim, whispering with clear concern, “You okay, Jimbo?”

“Yeah,” Jim swallowed, imagining how much worse that could have gone, “I’m fine.”

When they were safely out of earshot of everyone, Blinky unconsciously echoed Jim’s previous thoughts, “That certainly could’ve gone much worse.”

“Yeah, no kidding. Thanks for the heads up there, Blinky.” Jim muttered sarcastically. “Any other vengeful troll sons I need to worry about?”

“Hm, not that I know of.” Blinky replied thoughtfully, and Jim sighed. “Oh! That was rhetorical.”

“Sorry,” ARRRGH!!! said, “Draal is upset.”

“That sounds like a bit of an understatement,” Toby said “He looked ready to pound J—er, Atlas, into paste.” Neither troll disagreed with that statement.

Jim made a face at the imagery. “Thanks guys. I feel so much better now.”

“Ah, truly Master Atlas, you have our apologies.” Blinky said, “Let’s not allow that encounter to put a damper on things, yes? I think you’ll like this next place.”

Jim was still less than thrilled about the whole episode, but it wasn’t long before his curiosity took over again, especially since the place the seemed to be headed was much less busy than the rest of Trollmarket. The crowds they passed steadily dwindled, until it was just them walking down a corridor with reflective stone walls.

Some of the tension left his shoulders. He felt a little drained, but overall just relieved that they were finally out of sight of everyone. He didn’t have to worry so much now, at least. Oh, what he wouldn’t give to take off his helmet and breathe a little, though…

Almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind, the helmet dissipated. He gasped in surprise, hands instinctively shooting up to hide his face, when he remembered there was no one around to see him. Hesitantly, he glanced around, just to be sure. There wasn’t a troll to be seen besides Blinky and ARRRGH!!!, who were both glancing back at him.

“Why’d the helmet disappear?” He asked Blinky, half curious, half paranoid about it happening again in a more public space.

Blinky considered this. “The amulet _does_ respond to unconscious command. You must have felt at ease enough to go without your helmet.”

“Huh,” Jim blinked, surprised not by the amulet, but by the fact that he really had been more at ease than before, “I guess I was.”

Blinky smiled. “That’s good. Still, I would suggest some caution, if you wish to keep your humanity a secret. You never know when someone will search out the Trollhunter to answer a call.”

Jim nodded, and, after a little concentration, made the helmet reappear. He grinned, unexpectedly pleased at the small accomplishment. Maybe he was getting the hang of the amulet after all.

Looking ahead again, something caught his eye. He jogged around Blinky and ARRRGH!!! to see just where it was they were going, and his jaw dropped. “Holy trolls… is this a palace?” The place was huge, and clearly ancient. Jim wasn’t sure what to look at first.

“This is the Hero’s Forge!” Blinky exclaimed proudly, his voice echoing off the walls.

They walked across a stone bridge. Toby stopped somewhere along the edge, marveling at the sheer drop. Smirking, Jim snuck up on him and pretended to push him off. He laughed when Toby screeched in surprise.

“Don’t do that again!” Toby said, clinging to Jim as they pulled back from the edge.

“Heh. C’mon.” Jim said, continuing onwards. It wasn’t long before both of them were caught up in their amazement of at all once more.

“Wow,” Jim whispered, staring up at a huge stone door, at least until some stone statues caught his attention. His eyes widened when he realized what they were. “Wait, are these…”

“Trollhunters.” ARRRGH!!! confirmed.

“Your predecessors, Master Jim,” Blinky said, “a line of heroism that reaches back to the age of Merlin.” Pointing out an empty spot, he added, “This is the place of the final repose for Kanjigar the Courageous. One day, there will be a statue of you here, Master Jim.”

Jim frowned. That… wasn’t actually the most comforting thought.

Blinky seemed to realize this. “One day very far off in the future, of course.” He assured.

“About that,” Toby piped up, “there’s just one thing I’ve never gotten.”

Jim raised an eyebrow. “Just one?”

“You guys are trolls,” Toby continued, completely ignoring Jim’s two cents, “So, Trollhunter sounds a little like you hunt yourselves, you know?”

“Hunt bad trolls. Gumm-Gumms.” ARRRGH!!! explained, patting Jim on the shoulder. Jim was almost knocked over from the force of it.

“Hm.” Toby thought about that. “Still not the most terrifying name.”

Blinky perked up, clearly ready to educate. “In Trollspeak, Gumm-Gumm means—”

Jim interrupted without wholly meaning to, all while trying to rub the ache out of his shoulder through the armor. “‘Bringer of horrible, slow, painful and thoroughly-calculated death.’ Seriously dude, we’ve had this conversation.”

“I know, but its such a long thing to remember. And for like, two words too?” Toby shrugged. “I still don’t understand how you keep track of it all.”

“Master Jim,” Blinky interjected, surprise coloring his tone, “Do you speak troll?”

Jim froze up for a second. “No! I mean, yes, I guess I… sort of do…” Blinky’s surprised expression was beginning to melt into an excited grin. “No, really Blinky, I’m terrible at it. Horrible. I probably don’t form the words right half the time, and I can’t even read it—”

 ** _“When did you learn?”_** Blinky asked in trollish, effectively cutting off Jim’s tangent.

Jim hesitated, since this was the first time he’d ever had a conversation with anyone in trollish, and with someone fluent, no less. Finally, he managed,  _ **“I… three years ago? After I—”**_ He frowned, trying to think of the right phrasing. **_“Learned? Learned to… to…”_**

After a moment, Blinky rescued him. ** _“Scavenge?”_** A little embarrassed, Jim nodded. Blinky only seemed pleased. “You're hardly horrible at it, Master Jim. Your accent's off, but it’s nothing that can’t be smoothed out with a little practice. I’d be happy to teach you anything you don’t know, if you wish.”

“That would… actually be really nice,” after a second, he added a tentative, **_“Thank you.”_**

Blinky smiled, “ ** _You’re welcome_.** Oh!” He turned to Toby, inquisitive. “I’m curious, Tobias, do you—”

“I’m gonna stop you there.” Toby said. “Speaking troll is a scavenger thing. Jim’s taught me a couple of phrases, but I tend to forget them half the time anyway.”

“Interesting,” Blinky mused, “why is it only a ‘scavenger thing?’”

“Well, traders learn it too. Anyone whose outside the colony a lot tries to pick it up,” Jim explained. “In case we ever get kidnapped by trolls and need to eavesdrop on conversations to find a way to escape.” It was an explanation he’d given more than a couple of people, so he said it on reflex. It took him a second to remember that his present company wasn’t the typical curious member of the colony.

With a mild cringe, he turned back to Blinky and ARRRGH!!!. Both trolls were staring at him silently.

“Sorry. That… probably wasn’t the best way to put that.” Jim said sheepishly.

“That… happens?” ARRRGH!!! asked, looking troubled.

Jim and Toby shared a glance. Neither of them were completely sure how to answer that. Eventually, Jim said, “We’ve all heard stories, but it’s never happened to anyone we know personally, I think.”

“You think?” Blinky asked carefully.

“Mostly people just disappear.” Toby said with a dismal shrug. “We never really know what happens… specifically.”

They were all quiet for a moment.

“It doesn’t happen that much,” Jim said, trying to ease the tension a little, “Most people stay where it’s safe. It’s just, when it does happen…”

“I think I understand what you mean, Master Jim, Tobias,” Blinky said, looking guilty, “My apologies. It wasn’t my intention to bring about such a sensitive topic. Your original caution of ARRRGH!!! and myself is beginning to make more sense.”

“Yeah, well I’m just glad Jimbo ran into you guys, and not someone else,” Toby decided, his tone lighter.

“Yes,” Blinky agreed, glancing at Jim, “I am as well.”

“Me too,” ARRRGH!!! said, patting Jim on the shoulder again. Just like the last time, Jim was nearly bowled over.

“Agh,” Jim rubbed at his shoulder, adding, “Gumm-Gumms are the biggest problem out of anything, really. Especially lately.”

“How so?”

“I guess you could say they’ve been restless.” Jim said with a frown. “They’ve always been around, but a lot more lately than ever. Even in places they don’t usually go.” Not to mention the increased number of Gumm-Gumm sightings near the colony at night. It was nothing as drastic as one of them trying to get past the Barrier, but unsettling nonetheless.

“It’s creeping people out.” Toby added. “It didn’t help that Jim went missing for a whole night.”

There were other things too. Outsiders that had yet to be accepted into the safety of the colony had gone missing, for starters. It was also getting harder and harder for traders to make it to Arcadia without being spotted or even attacked; some didn’t make it at all. The world outside the colony had always held its dangers, but they were becoming deadlier than ever before. Slip-ups—like the ones Jim had made those five or so nights ago—were becoming less acceptable to make, if you wanted to keep your life.

Suffice to say people were more than just creeped out. But neither of them felt completely comfortable sharing that information with their troll cohorts.

“I’d say your training is more pertinent than ever, then.” Blinky said, “Gumm-Gumms might not be as problematic as they used to be, when Gunmar was still around, but they are still a considerable issue a Trollhunter must deal with. Are you ready, Master Jim?”

Jim blinked. “Wait, now? We’re training now?”

“There is no time like the present, as they say!” Blinky said cheerily. “Though you may want to step back a little, Tobias.”

Needless to say Jim spent several minutes dodging a multitude of very large blades and grindy things, until he eventually managed to convince Blinky that they might be better off starting with the basics.

 

* * *

 

 

By the time Jim and Toby snuck back into the colony, it was well past midnight. They were both exhausted.

As quiet as could be, they stole into Toby’s house and upstairs to Toby’s room. They sat down in the dark, and were silent for several moments as they processed everything they’d pulled off that night.

“So,” Toby eventually said, “that happened.”

“It did,” Jim agreed, staring at the wall.

“And we’re still going back tomorrow, aren’t we.” Toby said, as if he couldn’t quite believe that this was a thing they were doing now.

Jim could definitely relate, but all he could bring himself to say in response was, “Yep.”

 


	8. Chapter 8

Despite his previous late night, Jim managed to get up early that morning for scavenging.

He returned sometime during the afternoon, feeling on top of things. He’d been able to track down everything on his list, and now all he had left to do was to grab Toby and head over to Trollmarket for training. Which was still really weird to think about, but he was gradually beginning to adjust to the idea.

He was cutting through the market, on his way to meet Toby, when he ran into Mr. Strickler.

“Hey Mr. Strickler!” He greeted, his good mood obvious.

“Afternoon, Young Atlas.” Mr. Strickler said. He was dressed in his more practical, muted-colored scavenging clothes, and was carrying a backpack, so Jim guessed he’d either just gotten back from scavenging himself, or was about to head out. “How was scavenging today?”

“Good. I was mostly just running errands, picking up all the usual stuff.” Mr. Strickler nodded in understanding. “Running errands” was a phrase most scavengers used when they were talking about people hiring them out to scavenge for specific items. Jim had picked up the saying from Mr. Strickler early on in their acquaintance.

“Ah, I have a few to run myself today.” Mr. Strickler said conversationally. “I’m leaving a little later than I would’ve liked, but I wanted to swing by the play auditions. They were worth it, I’d say.”

Jim’s thought process ground to a halt at “auditions.”

“Now that I think about it, you were meant to try out as well, weren’t you?” Mr. Strickler wondered aloud.

Reality came crashing down on him, and Jim buried his face in his hands. “Oh _no_ , the auditions! I completely forgot!” He looked up at Mr. Strickler hopefully. “Please tell me they’re still going on?”

Mr. Strickler almost seemed amused. “I believe so. Though you may want to hurry.”

Jim was already jogging away. “Thanks Mr. Strickler, I’ll see you around!” He said in a rush. And to think, he thought he was on top of things today.

 

* * *

 

 

Toby somehow managed to meet up with Jim on the way to the theater, and Jim was desperately bouncing ideas off of him as they walked. Unfortunately, he wasn’t getting anywhere.

“Ugh, this is going to be horrible! I haven’t prepared anything, I barely know the play!” Jim bemoaned, giving up. “I don’t even have a costume.”

Toby, who was struggling to keep up with Jim’s fast pace, suggested, “What about the armor? That’d make a pretty cool costume.”

For a second, Jim actually considered it. Then he shook his head. “No, that’s a bad idea. If someone recognizes it things are _not_ going to end well.”

Toby cringed. “Right. That’s true. No armor then.” Noticing their destination up ahead, his friend said. “Well, too late now. I guess you’ll just have to wing it.”

Jim sighed, resigned. “Joy.”

They came in just in time to catch Claire in the middle of her audition. Jim watched, mesmerized, as she cited Shakespeare as easily as someone might breathe. Ms. Janeth, the scholar running the whole program, looked undeniably pleased.

“Wonderful, Ms. Nuñez.” Ms. Janeth said as she jotted something down on her clipboard. Claire smiled and walked off stage.

“Jim!” She said when she saw him. “You made it!”

“Yep,” he agreed with a nervous laugh, “I did. You were amazing out there, you know.”

“Aw, thanks.” Claire said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Shakespeare’s kinda my thing.”

“Yeah, I can tell.”

“Next!” Ms. Janeth declared, interrupting the conversation, much to Jim’s disappointment.

“I think that’s your cue.” Claire said. “Break a leg!”

Jim eyed the stage, secretly hoping it might spontaneously catch fire and save him from humiliation. No such thing happened, unfortunately. “I’d prefer that, actually.” He muttered, walking onto the stage.

Ms. Janeth squinted at him doubtfully. “Who are you?”

He shifted uncomfortably in place, “James Lake Junior.”

“And what role are you auditioning for?”

“Uh, Romeo.” Jim answered, because it was the first thing that came to mind.

“Well,” Ms. Janeth said, oblivious to his plight as she finished recording that information on her clipboard, “we are all ears.”

Jim swallowed dryly, opening his mouth to speak, only to close it. He didn’t know what to say, and as the silence filled seconds ticked by his nerves only grew. He struggled with it internally, racking his brain for something, _anything…_

He looked around, searching for some sort of inspiration, and unintentionally meeting Claire’s gaze off-stage. She smiled at him encouragingly, and Jim couldn’t help but give her a small smile back.

Okay. He looked down at his feet, trying to relax. He could do this.

“Um, destiny.” He said, before pausing. Where had that come from?

No, no, this could work! He continued before the silence could stretch on too long. “Destiny is… a gift.”

His confidence grew as Blinky’s words came back to him, and he suddenly knew exactly what he wanted to say.

 

* * *

 

 

Blinky didn’t come to the Upper City much, not counting the times he passed through it coming in and out of Trollmarket proper. Still, he couldn’t help but mentally recount its brief history as he and ARRRGH!!! lingered amongst its sparsely populated streets.

It had begun with a couple of heavily shaded guard posts next to Trollmarket’s main entrance, built more out of caution than necessity. However, it had been enough to plant a seed in the minds of trollkind. With humanity gone and the surface world newly available, why couldn’t Trollmarket expand upwards?

Thus the creation of the Upper City began, if in bursts and fits. Travelers and traders constructed small buildings to store their goods. Random patches of residential areas followed slowly after, and with customers now available, a few vendors dared to set up some stalls. It was an unsure, haphazard evolution, but one that still managed to occur, nonetheless.

Due to their kind’s problematic relationship with daylight, the city shaped itself in a very specific way. Buildings were packed together in tight clusters, their roofs interconnected by a variety of sturdy sunshades that shielded the streets below. Connecting these individual clusters were covered pathways and tunnels. The largest cluster of buildings was in the center, built up around Trollmarket’s main entrance, whereas the rest got steadily smaller and more interspersed with the surrounding forest as the city branched out.

So, while the Upper City was nowhere near as large or populated as Trollmarket proper, it had still managed to survive, and even thrive in its own way. It was a good place to go when you wanted to escape the usual hustle and bustle of Trollmarket, especially during the day. Even with the city’s precautionary measures in place, most trolls preferred to stay inside or underground during the brighter daylight hours, leaving the streets above relatively calm and clear.

Blinky, as comfortable as he was with Trollmarket’s usual havoc, never felt much desire or need to visit the Upper City. But now, with a human Trollhunter to consider, he had a feeling that might change sometime in the near future. Master Jim was currently his reason for being up here, after all.

“The coast is clear, Master Jim.” Blinky whispered, after the streets remained troll free for several long seconds. ARRRGH!!! stood by, ready to make a distraction if needed.

A moment later, Master Jim was peering down at him from over the edge of a wooden sunshade. He wasn’t wearing his armor—which Blinky could understand; armor wasn’t the best choice when it came to stealth—but he did have the hood of his jacket pulled low over his face. It wasn’t much, but it would spare them a few seconds if someone happened to spot them.

Without further ado, their human Trollhunter jumped off the edge of the sunshade and landed rather adeptly a few feet away from Blinky. Jim was a highly proficient climber, Blinky had decided, and already he was thinking of ways to incorporate that into the boy’s training.

For now, he only said, “I see your ankle has healed nicely.”

Master Jim smiled at him, looking just a little proud of his skill.

Tobias followed shortly after, though with much less grace than his companion. As Jim activated his armor, Toby pushed himself off the ground with a groan. “I hate climbing. So much.”

Master Jim shrugged. “It’s the safest way in.”

“Indeed,” Blinky agreed, “to use Trollmarket’s alternative entrances would eventually rouse suspicion.”

“But… how though?” Tobias grumbled, fixing his skewed mask back into place.

“Out too much during daytime.” ARRRGH!!! explained. “Will look strange.”

“We’re out here now.” Tobias pointed out.

“Yes, but we are in the Upper City, and trolls come and go from here whether it be day or night. More so during night, of course, but my point still stands.” Blinky said. “Like Master Jim said, using the main entrance is much safer. At worst, trolls will assume that you and Master Jim have a permanent residence in the Upper City, rather than Trollmarket proper.”

“We just have to sneak around a little more.” Jim finished. “Which we’re already doing really, so no big deal.”

Tobias still didn’t seem all that happy about it, but conceded that they were probably right. The matter settled, they headed out.

They had met up in an outer portion of the city, so it was a bit of a walk back to the main entrance. Master Jim, Blinky couldn’t help but note, seemed much more relaxed up here than he had in Trollmarket. He concluded that Jim’s familiarity with the Upper City must be the cause of this.

“I’ve never actually been down here, before.” Master Jim commented off-handedly. “Not for this long, anyway. It’s weird.”

Blinky couldn’t help but glance up at the underside of the canopy they were walking under. “Understandable. You would normally be up there, on the rooftops, rather than down here, correct?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Master Jim agreed.

“And you were never noticed?” Because Blinky was still a little astonished by that. It was certainly ironic; trolls had always insisted that humans were extinct, and yet all this time, one had been sneaking around right under their very noses!

Though, in this case, it might be more appropriate to say right _above_ their noses.

“There were a few close calls.” Jim admitted. “But as long as I stayed quiet it was fine. It wasn’t like anyone could actually go up there and look. Uh, no offense.”

“None taken.”

They passed by a couple of trolls, who almost instantly took notice of Master Jim. Jim didn’t comment on it until they were well out of earshot. “So, not to complain, but I really think we should figure out a disguise that’s a bit less…” He gestured to the armor.

“Conspicuous?” Blinky finished, and Master Jim nodded. “Yes, that might be wise. I’ve actually been considering the issue myself.”

ARRRGH!!! nodded in agreement. “Problem though. Horns.”

Master Jim and Tobias glanced at each other. “Horns?” Tobias asked.

“Yes, horns.” To make his point, Blinky reached over and knocked an upper hand against one of the decorative metal horns on Jim’s helmet. “Finding something that might work as a substitute for them will be tricky.”

“Oh.” Jim absently brushed a hand over the metal horns himself, as if he’d forgotten they were there. “That makes sense. I guess I’m stuck with the armor then.”

“For now,” Blinky said, “but we’ll work on it. I considered making use of a glamor mask, but that would require you to have a specific person in mind, and frankly I wouldn’t want to risk it.”

“Right…” Master Jim agreed, though he seemed puzzled. “I can maybe try and find something back at the co—back home.” The correction was abrupt and hard to miss. If Master Jim’s stiff posture was anything to go by, he knew this too.

Blinky and ARRRGH!!! shared a look. Blinky had already suspected that anything too detailed about the place Tobias and Master Jim called home was a bit of an off-limits topic. This confirmed it though.

After a little consideration, Blinky decided to ignore the slip-up. “Well, be sure to inform me if you find anything of use.”

For a second, Master Jim seemed surprised. Then he nodded, his shoulders relaxing. “Sure.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Wider stance. Keep your frame.”

Jim had never really seen himself as warrior material. A position amongst Arcadia’s guard had only been briefly considered, back when he was still searching for an apprenticeship. His endurance and stealth were pretty good after a couple years of scavenging, but in a one-on-one fight with a troll, or even a human, his odds of winning probably weren’t great.

But now he was the Trollhunter, and that meant learning how to fight. He wasn’t entirely sure how well that was going to go, but he was going to be prepared. He listened to Blinky attentively, following his new trainer’s instructions as precisely as he could.

“No, that’s good, that’s good. Yes, all right, fine.” Blinky said, observing Jim’s form with a critical eye. “That’s better. All right. Raise your sword, Master Jim.” Blinky reached out and pushed the sword to what he considered an appropriate height. “Head up, chin out, stomach in.”

While Jim did his best to memorize proper form, Toby and ARRRGH!!! sat on the sidelines, chatting and watching the lesson unfold before them. Now that Toby had gotten over his initial wariness of the two trolls, he and ARRRGH!!! seemed to get along surprisingly well.

“The Trollhunter lives, and dies, by three rules.” Blinky said. Jim made a face at the dying part, but didn’t comment. “Rule number one: always be afraid.”

That… wasn’t what he was expecting. “Afraid?”

“Be afraid,” ARRRGH!!! agreed.

Jim let out a small, disbelieving laugh. “Yeah. I don’t think that’ll be a problem—Whoa!” He ducked an incoming rock, shooting Blinky an incredulous look. He realized a few seconds later that his helmet failed to convey the expression, so he said, “Hey!”

Blinky didn’t look contrite in the slightest. In fact, pleased would probably be a more appropriate description. “See? Fear is good. Keeps us alert. Keeps us on guard. Makes us vigilant!” Blinky threw two more rocks Jim’s way, both of which Jim avoided.

Yeah, this definitely wasn’t what he’d been expecting.

“A hero is not he who is fearless, but he who is not stopped by it.” Blinky said, and that actually _did_ make sense.

Jim nodded, feeling something like determination settle in him. He could do this. “Got it.”

“Two,” Blinky held up two fingers, “always finish the fight. An opponent must be given no mercy!” Blinky proceeded to throw even more rocks his way, with much more enthusiasm than seemed entirely necessary.

Jim stumbled back, shielding himself with his sword. “Okay, enough with the rocks already!” Thankfully, the barrage stopped, and he eased out of his defensive position. He mulled over the second rule, trying to give it a decisive meaning. “Always finish the fight?”

CLANG! Something collided against his back with enough force to topple him over.

“Kill.” ARRRGH!!! said somewhere behind him.

Jim got to his feet, “What the heck…” At some unconscious command, the plates of his helmet shifted to show his face, if only for the sole purpose of shooting his offender a look. Toby—who’d actually had his own mask off for a while now— pointed at ARRRGH!!!, unfazed. ARRRGH!!! was remorseless.

While this was going on, Blinky was explaining further. “Indeed. The Trollhunter must always vanquish his opponent, through death.”

Now _that_ caught his attention.

“Dude, that’s harsh.” Toby said, perfectly summing up Jim’s feelings on the matter.

Blinky opened his mouth to respond, but seemed to reconsider when he noticed how genuinely uncomfortable they both looked at the idea. “I suppose it is. I take it humans have no such practices?”

“Yeah, definitely not.” Jim agreed, more than a little troubled at the thought of taking a life. Troll or human, it didn’t matter; it felt wrong. “If someone kills someone else back home, that means banishment.”

“I see,” Blinky sighed, “but I’m afraid, Master Jim, if you wish to keep up this guise, you’ll have to adjust. Ours is an unforgiving world. Hence the third rule,” Blinky put the lesson back on track, his tone notably lighter, “when in doubt, always kick them in the gronk-nuks.”

Jim blinked. Racked his brain for any knowledge of that term. “Gronk-nuks?” He eventually asked, bewildered.

Blinky, the very picture of sophistication, stomped twice on the ground. A huge blade sprung forth, and Jim jumped back with a shout, the blade just missing the place no man wished to be hit. ARRRGH!!! and Toby both cringed.

“The horror.” ARRRGH!!! shuddered.

The blade retracted into the ground. That answered that question. “So basically, you’re saying that _one-third_ of trollhunting is… kicking someone in the nards?”

Whatever Blinky’s response to that might’ve been would be forever unknown, because at that moment a familiar voice called out, “Well, if it isn’t the mighty Trollhunter!”

Jim went rigid. The amulet responded instantly, snapping the face of the helmet back into place. Meanwhile, Toby devolved into a mad scramble to try and pull his mask back down. ARRRGH!!!, ever helpful, blocked Toby from view until he managed it.

Jim turned, heart hammering, but Draal seemed none the wiser. He released the breath he’d been holding. That had been too close.

Blinky, looking a little ruffled by the close call, asked tersely, “Yes, Draal, what do you need?”

“I need nothing,” Draal said, all fake friendliness, “but I thought I might offer the Trollhunter my services, as a sparring partner.” As if for emphasis, Draal pounded a fist into his hand. “Part of his training regiment, yes?”

A single, sure thought crossed Jim’s mind right then:

_That won’t end well for me._

“In due time, perhaps—” Blinky tried.

“Why wait?” Yet another familiar voice interrupted. They all looked up to see Vendel in the stands above. Oh great, they were being teamed up on, weren’t they? “I am eager to see the Trollhunter demonstrate his mettle.”

Jim was at a loss for words.

“No harm in it.” Draal said, giving Jim a smile that felt much more like a sneer, before walking to the center of the Forge. Jim turned to Blinky, desperate, but Blinky only shot Draal a displeased glare, before moving to join Toby and ARRRGH!!! on the sidelines.

…So this was actually going to happen.

“Wait!” Jim chased after Blinky, “Wait, wait, wait, what do I do?”

“Hit him as hard as you can.” Blinky suggested, which was not at all the helpful advice he was looking for.

“No, I mean _what do I do?_ I’ve never been in a fight before!” Jim whispered urgently.

That caught Blinky’s attention. “Never? In your entire life?”

“Well, I mean, not an actual fight. And definitely not with a troll!”

“You escaped a Gumm-Gumm, did you not? One that was very possibly Bular, based on how you described him, and that is no small feat.” Blinky pointed out.

“I _jumped_ into a _river!_ ” Jim hissed. “I’m a scavenger! I distract, I evade. I don’t go around picking fights, I mean, have you seen me? I can’t do this!”

“Yes, you can.” Blinky said, placing his upper set of hands on Jim’s shoulder. “The fight is within you, Master Atlas! If those are your skills, than use them. Land one hit!” Blinky held up all of his fists, before realizing his error and lowering three of them. “One hit, and you will be changed, forever.”

Jim stared at Blinky, trying to let that advice reassure him in some way. Blinky didn’t give him long, unfortunately, turning him around and giving him what was probably meant to be an encouraging push towards Draal. He was still doubtful, but forced himself to join Draal in the center of the Forge anyway.

Jim took a breath, before drawing his sword. He could do this. Totally. And maybe if he kept telling himself that, he’d actually believe it.

“Begin!” Vendel announced.

Draal roared fiercely, before charging straight at Jim. “One hit,” Jim muttered to himself, standing his ground, sword at the ready…

Then Draal rolled into a spikey ball of death, and nope, no, he was not dealing with that.

Jim jumped out of the way, watching, stunned, as Draal continued past him and straight up one of the walls of the Forge, which he then used to launch himself back towards Jim. Jim scrambled out of the way, the ground beneath him shaking when Draal made impact. Huge clouds of dust billowed into the air, and belatedly Jim realized he could no longer see his opponent.

BAM! Something slammed into him with enough force to send him flying. He hit the ground, dazed.

Draal wasn’t about to let up though. As Jim got to his feet, using his sword as a sort of makeshift crutch, he caught Draal storming his way. Jim froze up, and for a brief moment, he wasn’t in the Forge, but back in the forest with a Gumm-Gumm staring him down.

Jim snapped back to himself, his reflexes kicking in just in time. He launched himself clear of Draal’s follow-up attack, his breathing heavy. It was a clumsy move; he was still a little dazed, and honestly lucky he didn’t trip and fall on his face. However, it gave him just enough time to block Draal’s next attack with the flat of his blade.

He cringed as the force of the hit vibrated through the sword and down his arms. Draal used the momentary distraction to his full advantage, seizing Jim’s right arm and wrenching the sword from his hands. It dissipated into nothing.

“You think you can be the Trollhunter?” Draal snarled, squeezing Jim’s arm. Jim gasped at the sudden pain. “You’re barely a _troll._ ”

Without giving Jim a chance to respond, Draal slammed a fist into his chest and sent him flying a second time. This time though, Jim nearly dropped into the seemingly never-ending depths of the trench that surrounded the Forge.

“Whoa, whoa, _whoa!_ ” Jim scrambled away from the edge, heart racing. Only for Draal to snatch him up and dangle him back over the edge.

“Let him go!” Toby said, somewhere on the sidelines.

Gripping tightly onto Draal’s hand and glancing down at what would no doubt be a deadly fall, Jim thought a little hysterically, _No, really don’t!_

“I’ve waited my entire life to inherit the amulet! I can wait until you fall in battle.” Draal growled, before steadily tightening his grip on Jim’s torso.

_“AGH!”_ His ribs ached, he couldn’t breathe! At this rate Draal was actually going to kill him!

But after a few more seconds of this torture Draal dropped him unceremoniously onto the ground. The troll stared down at Jim unfeelingly. “I suspect I won’t have to wait very long. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay down and live, _worm_.”

Draal left, but not without one last mocking laugh.

Above them all, Vendel almost seemed… disappointed. The old troll shook his head and disappeared.

Jim stared at the ground, shaken and ashamed. His friends watched him, concerned. It didn’t make him feel better in the slightest.

 

* * *

 

 

“What the heck was I thinking?” Jim said bitterly, as he headed toward the crystal staircase. “I can’t be the Trollhunter, I couldn’t protect anyone if I tried!”

“Now, Master Jim, I understand you’re upset,” Blinky said, trying to be optimistic, “but you’ve barely had a day’s training. There was no shame in what just transpired.”

Jim stopped in his tracks. The armor was a much more noticeable weight, all of a sudden, and he resisted the urge to dismiss it; it was the only thing hiding his humanity, after all. He’d already been thoroughly humiliated by Draal, and the last thing he needed was the exposure of his entire race to top it all off. “Okay. Then you were definitely not paying attention back there, because shame was about the only thing that _transpired_. Shame,” Jim sighed, suddenly very tired and just… done, with all of this, “and realization. I don’t know if Draal should be the Trollhunter, and I don’t care. I just know… I am not.”

With that, Jim turned and started walking up the stairs again. Hesitantly, Toby followed after him.

“Master Jim, you know you can not give up the amulet.” Blinky tried. “Whatever doubts you may have about its choice, it is now bonded to you. This is a mantle you can not refuse.”

Jim paused, glancing down at the amulet as it glowed faintly.

He looked away.

“Watch me.”


	9. Chapter 9

“Leave me alone.” Jim ordered, annoyed.

The amulet, of course, only glowed and stayed where it was.

“Uh, you’re not talking to me, right?” Toby said, somewhere below him.

“No.” Jim replied, continuing his climb, and pointedly kicking the amulet out of the tree as he went. “I’m talking to the stupid amulet that thinks I should go fight trolls, when I obviously can’t fight trolls.”

He heard Toby shifting to avoid the falling amulet. “Right, right. I figured.”

Jim huffed, finally managing to pull himself onto the branch he wanted. He shimmied his way to the middle of the branch, a small jar in hand. Steadying himself, he carefully began plucking off small pieces of the lichen above him and sticking them in the jar.

“So… is tree climbing going to be a regular thing for me? Now that I’m a scavenger?” Toby asked.

“You might want to improve a little.” Jim confirmed, before adding, “But you usually wouldn’t with Usnea. It grows slowly, so it’s better to find it on branches that have already fallen on the ground, if you can.” Deciding that he had enough, Jim screwed the jar shut, before making his way back down the tree. “The only reason I’m doing this is because I couldn’t find any on the ground, and mom said she really needed some.”

“Got it. Stick to the ground, not the trees. I can do that.” Toby said, and there was a distinctive sound of pencil on paper.

Jim glanced down at his friend, “Are you taking notes?”

“Uh, yeah?” Toby said, like it was the obvious thing to do. “I’m learning how to survive in the wild, I don’t want to forget anything.”

Jim laughed, “Collecting medicine for my mom is hardly surviving in the wild, Tobes.”

Toby shrugged, shutting his notebook and sticking it back in his bag. Jim hopped out of the tree, dusting himself off. The amulet was still on the ground, waiting. Jim frowned at it, before turning and heading off in a new direction, Toby in tow.

“So…” Toby began, watching as the amulet materialized on top of a boulder they were passing. Jim stared straight ahead, not once looking at it. “We’re just going to ignore it?”

“Pretty much.” Jim said. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small flash as the amulet disappeared. Maybe this time it finally got the hint and wasn’t coming back.

“Mmn, I don’t know, Jimbo.” Toby said, doubtful. “I mean, that thing’s been following us around all day, and I don’t think it’s about to give up anytime soon.”

As if in agreement, the amulet materialized right in the middle of their path. Jim faltered only slightly, before stepping over it and continuing onwards.

“And you have, sort of, been through this already. And I’m pretty sure it didn’t work then either…”

“Look, I know that Tobes. I do. I just—” He sighed in frustration. “C’mon. We still have herbs to collect. I’ll show you where I find some good ones…”

Toby, thankfully, let the matter of the amulet drop. Jim knew he’d have to deal with it eventually, but he didn’t want to yet. He wanted to scavenge, and hang out with Toby, and go to his play rehearsal later. He didn’t want to think about trollhunting and the amulet and how, for a little while there, he’d actually thought he could pull it all off.

Still, the amulet persisted. Jim held out for about an hour more, before he finally gave in and stuck it back in his bag.

 

* * *

 

 

So apparently he’d gotten the part of Romeo in the play.

Which was… exciting? Or at least it was probably supposed to be; Claire was playing Juliet, after all. And he’d been pleasantly surprised for about five minutes, before his thoughts inevitably drifted back to the whole Trollhunter issue.

It was less that he was against being the Trollhunter now, and more that he was resigned to the fact that he _couldn’t_ be, even if he wanted to. The spar with Draal had proved as much. How was a scavenger like him, better suited for sneaking around and running away, meant to protect anyone if he couldn’t even defeat a single troll?

It was better this way, he told himself. No more having to sneak around Trollmarket, desperately trying to keep his humanity a secret. No more vengeful trolls trying to kill him. No more worry, and no more risk—outside the usual he took when scavenging, anyway.

Yep. This was good. The best decision he could’ve made, really. So why did he feel so dejected about it all?

It must have shown somehow, because somewhere between Ms. Janeth’s speech about denying and refusing (what part were they rehearsing again?), Claire asked, “Hey, you okay?”

Jim blinked rapidly, thoroughly surprised by the question. Was he being that obvious? “Oh yeah, I’m fine!” That hadn’t sounded the way he’d wanted it to. He chuckled nervously. “Totally fine.”

The failed attempt at lying earned him a concerned half-smile. “You’ll have to be a little more convincing than that if you want to play Romeo.”

He was hesitant for a second, before sighing and giving in. “Was it that noticeable?”

“You’ve been zoning in and out for the entire first half of rehearsal.” Claire pointed out, not unkindly.

Still, Jim winced. “Sorry. I just have some stuff going on in my head… It’s nothing, really.”

Claire bit her lip, before offering him a kind smile. “I know we don’t know each other that well, but we’re going to be spending a lot of time together, so—”

Unfortunately, Ms. Janeth got tired of waiting. “All right, all right! Act two, scene two, line thirty-three!”

Claire shrugged, as if to say “what are you gonna do,” before resuming her lines. Jim’s inner turmoil about the whole Trollhunter thing wasn’t any better, per say, but the quick conversation with Claire did help get him through the rest of rehearsal. It was nice, knowing that she cared, even in some small way.

After rehearsal he ended up having to stay a few extra minutes, so he could be measured for a costume. Claire actually stayed with him, which was unexpected, but he wasn’t complaining. They talked idly about their respective lives outside of the play until Jim was finally given the okay to leave.

Toby was waiting for him just outside the theater. “Hey, what took you so long?” His friend asked, before noticing Claire. “Oh! Hey, Claire!”

“Hey,” Claire said, “Tony, right?”

“It’s Toby actually.” Toby corrected.

“Right, sorry.” Claire said, before turning back to Jim. “I should probably go, Mary’s waiting for me.” She gestured to her friend, who was part of a small group that had decided to linger outside the theater for a bit. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

When Claire was out of earshot, Toby nudged Jim with his elbow. “Well, well, what happened there?” He said, with a suggestive eyebrow raise.

Jim rolled his eyes, though he was a little flustered. “She was keeping me company while I got measured for a costume. Nothing ‘happened.’”

Toby’s grin stayed where it was. “Then why are you all embarrassed?”

“I’m not!” Jim protested weakly, but he couldn’t help glancing at Claire, who was deep in conversation with her own friend.

“Sure.” Toby said, stretching the word out teasingly. “Don’t worry man, I think she’s into you, too.”

"...You really think so?” The idea that his crush could be mutual almost seemed too good to be true, and it left him feeling just a little warm inside. He couldn’t help but glance Claire’s way again.

Unfortunately, the distraction meant he didn’t notice Steve’s approach until it was too late.

Suddenly, Jim was being pushed into a wall. It was startling, but not much else, surprisingly. After the incident with Draal, Steve seemed to be at an all time intimidating low. So much so that when Jim met his glare he found himself more… annoyed, than anything. And maybe a little tired of having to deal with people messing with him just because they thought they were somehow better.

“Where were you?” Steve asked loudly, effectively securing the attention of anyone that happened to be nearby.

“What are you talking about?” Jim asked, after a moment. Because a lot of stuff had been going on lately, and Steve had been at the very bottom of his “things I need to worry about” list.

Steve seemed shocked that he’d forgotten, and then even more irritated than before. “Wha—are you serious? I scheduled your butt whooping for Friday, and you didn’t show! Tick tock, remember?”

“He was busy getting his butt kicked by someone else! Take a number, Steve.” Toby said, stepping forward.

“Back off, Domzalski!” Steve ordered with a sneer.

Jim intercepted before Toby became the target. “I literally just got off crutches a couple days ago. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with you then, and I’m definitely not now.”

Steve laughed, and it was an ugly sound. “Of course not! No one’s ever in the mood to get their face smashed in! But that’s what’s gonna happen.” Steve smirked. “Unless you want to back down?”

Back down? And avoid another fight he’d no doubt lose? “I can do that?” He asked, because there had to be some sort of catch.

“Sure. If you want to crawl away from me, on your knees, bowing. That’s a choice.”

Of course, he couldn’t get out of anything without being utterly humiliated these days. But a fight wasn’t going to end much better, so he might as well save himself the extra pain.

With a defeated sigh, he deposited his bag on the ground and dropped down on one knee.

“Whoa! I didn’t actually expect you to choose wussing over whooping!” Steve said, surprised, but also very clearly delighted by this turn of events.

Jim ignored him, just waiting for the whole scene to be over. It wasn’t like he had much pride left to lose anyway, right? He was used to running, to backing down and evading things that could hurt him. He was a scavenger; it’s what he did. He’d run from Bular, he’d run from Draal, and now he was doing it all over again with Steve. It was fine.

Then he caught Claire’s gaze out of the corner of his eye, and he couldn’t help but look at her. She looked pained, as if she couldn’t quite stand what she was watching. Seeing that he was looking at her, she shook her head.

It made him hesitate. Is this really how he wanted people to see him? How he wanted to see himself?

Suddenly, he was rising to his feet.

Steve chuckled darkly, before lunging at Jim and shoving him back into the wall. Jim ducked before a punch could land, and then continued ducking and dodging, to Steve’s increasing frustration.

“Hold still so I can punch your face!” Steve ordered.

Jim did not hold still, but a fist eventually managed to connect with enough force to knock him to the ground.

Ow. He shook his head, trying to ignore the blossoming pain in his jaw, when he heard a light, familiar _ping_. He turned, and found he was just able to see the amulet glowing in his bag. He stared at it.

With the armor on, it wouldn’t be hard to beat Steve in a fight. Almost subconsciously, he reached out a hand to grab it…

Sneering down at him, Steve jeered, “Stay down and live, _worm._ ”

Jim paused. That was what Draal had said, wasn’t it?

It hit him all of a sudden that, in a way, Draal wasn’t that different from Steve. Steve lashed out at people and made them feel lesser, all so he could feel better about his standing in society. Draal was doing the same. Except Draal had succeeded where Steve had failed; he had actually managed to make Jim think lower of himself.

Draal was just a bully. A much bigger, stronger, more intimidating bully than Steve could ever be, but a bully nonetheless. And Jim might need his armor to stand a chance against Draal, but Steve…

The hand that had been reaching for the amulet curled into a fist. He was tired of running. He wasn’t just a scavenger anymore.

He was the Trollhunter now.

Jim stood. “Is that all you got?”

Steve glowered, and stepped forward to meet the challenge, but Claire intervened. “Leave him alone Steve!”

“Out of the way!” Steve growled, carelessly pushing Claire aside. Thankfully, Toby and another one of her friends—Darci, he was pretty sure—managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

Jim turned back to Steve, even more determined to knock the guy down a peg than before. Steve was grinning, like the fight was already decided. “Good thing your mom’s a nurse.” He mocked.

Approximately three seconds later Jim’s fist collided with his face, and Steve hit the ground, hard. And was that a tooth that just fell out?

Jim straightened. “She’s a doctor, actually.”

There was a brief moment of shocked silence, and then the small crowd around them burst into cheers.

Toby ran up to him, ecstatic. “Dude! You did it! And without even kicking him in the gronk-nuks!”

“I did.” Jim laughed, a little disbelieving. Then he was struck by what was probably a crazy idea. “What time is it?”

“Uh, I don’t know, why dude?”

“Never mind, let’s go. We can make it.” He decided. And even if they did end up outside the colony at night, well, it was something they should probably get used to at this point. He was already jogging away from the theater, a semi-baffled Toby lagging behind. “Hurry. I still have to leave a note and grab our stuff.”

There was one other person he needed to deal with tonight.

 

* * *

 

 

“Do you think Master Jim will return?”

Blinky hated himself for asking, but Master Jim hadn’t shown up for training that day, and it suddenly seemed like a more valid concern than ever. What would they do if Master Jim decided to disappear? He could only guess where the boy might be residing, and even then, Jim had proven himself to be quite discrete when he wanted to be. Gorgus, the first time Blinky had stumbled upon him had been a product of sheer luck!

He didn’t even want to think about what they’d do if they truly never could find him.

ARRRGH!!! didn’t respond for a moment, though he seemed concerned about the subject too. They were at the pub, because if there were ever a time for a drink, it was now.

“Yes.” ARRRGH!!! said eventually, his voice as hushed as Blinky’s. It wouldn’t do for anyone to overhear _this_ particular conversation. “Don’t know when… but Jim come back.”

“You sound so sure, old friend.” Blinky said.

ARRRGH!!! shrugged. “Trollhunter. Amulet chose for a reason.”

Blinky nodded, reassured. “You’re right. We should have faith that Master Jim will—oh, no.” His eyes found an all too familiar troll entering the pub. “Lovely.”

After a few minutes, Draal noticed their presence too. At least Blinky was fairly certain that that was Draal’s reasoning for loudly recounting his spar with Master Jim, in excruciating detail. Honestly, Blinky could understand why Draal was upset, but this was becoming all together too much.

“It was an epic pummeling!” Draal told his audience with a laugh, grabbing a drink. “I was going to kill him, but I just couldn’t make up my mind as to how. Trollhunter. Ha! I mean, troll _hunted_ is more like it!” Draal laughed, turning to give Blinky and ARRRGH!!! a pointed look.

Blinky glared and ARRRGH!!! silently sipped on his drink. Yes, Draal’s attitude about all this was definitely becoming tiresome. “If only Master Jim had landed a single hit.” Blinky muttered.

“Single hit.” ARRRGH!!! agreed.

“He would’ve been changed forever!” Blinky continued. “Or at the very least confident enough to ignore Draal and his posturing.”

ARRRGH!!! went still. “Blinky.”

“I understand that he lost his father, but this sort of behavior is—”

“Blinky.” ARRRGH!!! repeated, finally garnering his attention. “Look.”

Confused, Blinky did, and all six of his eyes widened in surprise. Was that…

“Over and over and over!” Draal continued, oblivious. “It was incredible! All I want is the chance to wail on the supposed Trollhunter again.” That said, Draal moved to take a swig of his drink.

Only for an armored hand to catch the rim of the tankard and slam it back onto the counter. “Wish granted, loudmouth.” Master Jim said fiercely, all while Draal stared at him in shock. “Name the time, name the place, and I’ll be there.”

Tobias was right behind him, arms crossed. “We both will.”

For a second, all Blinky could do was gape, and ARRRGH!!! wasn’t much better. “Changed forever.” ARRRGH!!! summed up. 

Blinky grinned. “Indeed.”

Draal finally got over his astonishment and stood with a growl, but Master Jim didn’t even flinch. As thrilled as he was with his student’s newfound confidence, Blinky decided it’d be best to intervene before a fight accidently broke out in the pub. He hurried over and placed a hand on Master Jim’s shoulder, startling him out of the standoff.

“Blinky?”

Instead of acknowledging Master Jim, Blinky decided it might be more pertinent to address Draal. “Well, you heard the Trollhunter, a challenge has been issued.” Not taking a single eye off Draal, Blinky managed to blindly grab Tobias by the shoulder, before guiding the two disguised humans back to the table. He spoke all the while. “We’ll work out the details later, so excuse us, Trollhunter business to discuss!”

Draal was scowling, but let them leave, thankfully.

ARRRGH!!! was beaming at them when they returned. “Came back!”

Master Jim laughed. “Yeah, I guess I did. Sorry I sort of… ran off on you guys for a while there.”

“Yes, you should be. You missed a whole day’s training!” Blinky scolded, but there wasn’t much bite behind it. At Blinky’s prompt, both Tobias and Jim took a seat at the table, and he joined them shortly after. “Though I, too, am glad you returned. Not that I doubted it! But I have to ask, why the sudden change of heart?”

Master Jim rubbed the back of his neck in a sheepish manner. “Well…”

“He got into a fight!” Tobias blurted gleefully.

“Tobes!”

“You did! With this jerk guard Steve, back home.” Tobias explained to two very interested trolls. “And he won! Steve was pushing him around, and then Jim finally had enough, and WHAM! Punched him right in the face!”

“Toby.” Jim said, much more subdued. “It wasn’t _that_ exciting.”

“Uh, yeah, it was? Plus I’m your best friend, it’s my job to make you sound awesome, don’t undermine me.” Toby chided, but if his tone was anything to go by, he was grinning beneath his mask. “Anyway. Now Jim’s got this wicked bruise on his jaw, from when Steve punched _him_ , but that’s nothing because Steve got a whole tooth knocked out! It was awesome-sauce!”

There was a moment of silence as Blinky and ARRRGH!!! processed that flood of information.

And then: “Master Atlas!” Blinky cheered, “You landed a hit! And a good one, from the sounds of it!”

Master Jim seemed to be at a loss. “I mean, yeah, I did.” He agreed, and did Blinky detect a note of pride? “But it wasn’t as impressive as Toby’s making it sound.”

“That may or may not be the case, but it’s a start.” Blinky said. Determined, he downed the rest of his drink in one go. “Come! Let us go to the Forge!”

“Right now?”

“Of course! You’re going to need all the training you can get if you are to face Draal. There is not a moment to waste!”

 

* * *

 

 

There was something about the new Trollhunter that didn’t sit right with Draal.

He mulled over it long after the Trollhunter and his group left the pub, trying to determine just what it was that seemed so off. His small stature? His weird, shorter companion? The fact that he never seemed to be far from either ARRRGH!!! or Blinky? There was certainly a lot to choose from, but eventually he realized there was one particular thing that bothered him the most.

Not once had he seen the Trollhunter’s face.

And now that he thought about it, he’d never seen the Trollhunter out of his armor in general. Originally he’d assumed it was some form of gloating, but now he wasn’t so sure.

Just who was this…Atlas?

A few casual conversations with some other pub patrons later, and Draal came to the conclusion that no one really knew. And as if that wasn’t enough, he wasn’t the only one who had yet to see the Trollhunter’s face, and he had a sneaking suspicion that that was no accident. The uncertainty of it all unsettled him more than he would’ve liked.

Draal shook his head and ordered another drink. He was beginning to feel like Blinky with all these paranoid conspiracies. Ridiculous.

But as much as he tried, he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that the Trollhunter was hiding something.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. So I'm uploading this chapter way later than I wanted to, but it's up now, so... better late than never, right? 
> 
> I just want to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, left kudos and all that, you guys are amazing! You all inspire me to be a better writer and to keep going with this story. So seriously, thank you. 
> 
> That being said, keep it crispy and enjoy the chapter! ;)

He was not going to fall asleep.

“Centuries ago, when human kind was still at large, trolls and humans lived separate and at peace…”

Jim yawned, the gesture concealed by his helmet. He never imagined that a full suit of armor could be something you could fall asleep in, but he was having trouble avoiding doing just that. They were at the Forge, a place that was becoming increasingly familiar to him, and Blinky was giving another one of his history lessons. Jim, Toby and ARRRGH!!! were all seated on the ground, while Blinky was pacing in front of them, reading from a book in hand.

Toby and ARRRGH!!! seemed to have no trouble listening to Blinky attentively. Jim was trying his best to do the same, because it was interesting and he’d never heard the troll version of this particular story, but he was just so tired. Between Trollhunter training, scavenging and play rehearsals, the amount of time he had left for sleep was noticeably shrinking.

“…But the Gumm-Gumms wanted to devour all of mankind. They were led by Gunmar the Black. The rest of trollkind fought against him, but were too late in saving humankind from what was believed to be extinction—until now, of course.”

Jim nodded, trying to ignore how tired his eyes felt. _I will not fall asleep, I will not fall asleep, I will not fall asleep_ ; he repeated the mantra over and over again in his head.

“It all culminated in the great Battle of Killahead Bridge, the portal to Gunmar’s Darklands. After many moons, good triumphed over evil, and our great Trollhunter, Deya ‘the Deliverer,’ locked Gunmar away, exiling him to the Darklands…”

Maybe he could just close his eyes for a second? He didn’t need to see Blinky to listen to what he had to say. Besides, no one would really know that his eyes were closed, with his helmet and all.

“Eventually, we left the old world in search of peace, repurposing abandoned human ships for our use. Just a few of us, and a handful of gnomes for companionship and nourishment.”

Huh. So that was how trolls had gotten to America, Jim thought sleepily. Cool.

That was his last coherent thought before he drifted to sleep.

The impromptu nap didn’t last long; the book snapping closed right in front of his face made sure of that. He jolted awake with some sort of dream-induced shout—something about Draal not killing him? Though that was hardly as important as the realization that his armor was gone. The amulet must have taken his falling asleep as an unconscious command to deactivate, which was good to know, but still kind of embarrassing.

Blinky stood over him, looking mildly peeved. “The training of troll history might seem like a minor duty, Master Jim, but—”

Jim interrupted before the lecture could get too far, picking up the amulet from where it had fallen next to him. “Sorry, I’ve been really busy trying to track down this huge list of stuff for our blacksmith, and my brain is kind of fried.”

Toby cringed sympathetically. “I’ve seen that list. There’s a reason people call him ‘Uhl the Unforgiving’ behind his back.”

Jim nodded, and got to his feet with a yawn. “Plus I was kind of hoping, with the whole fight with Draal coming up, my training would be a little more, I don’t know, active?” He took a second to stretch his stiff muscles, before reactivating the amulet.

“Yeah!” Toby agreed, standing and slinging an arm around Jim’s shoulder. “When’s Jim gonna learn some awesome troll fighting moves?”

“Before one fights, Tobias, one must understand why one fights.” Blinky replied. “For these precious early steps will decide whether a young Trollhunter will become a Deya ‘the Deliverer’…” Blinky gestured to Deya’s statue.

“Or Unkar ‘the Unfortunate.’” ARRRGH!!! finished, bringing attention to the less heroic of the statues.

Jim cringed slightly, sharing a look with Toby. “Fair enough, but—”

“Not to mention an understanding of troll history could be imperative to Master Jim keeping up his act as a troll.” Blinky continued.

“How though?” Toby asked.

Blinky looked displeased. “How? If a Trollhunter were to lack basic knowledge of trollish culture and history, it would no doubt raise questions. What would you think if you came across another human that lacked the slightest understanding of your culture, hmm?” Blinky looked at them both expectantly.

They’d probably suspect them of being a changeling, but Jim didn’t say that out loud. “He’s kind of got us there…” Jim admitted with a shrug.

“Yeah, I guess that’s true.” Toby agreed, if a little grudgingly.

Blinky seemed satisfied. “Excellent. Allow me to recommend _A Brief Recapitulation of Troll Lore_ by the venerable Bedehilde.” Blinky said, dropping an unexpectedly heavy book into Jim’s arms. Jim nearly toppled from the sudden weight of it. “Volume one of 47.”

Jim sighed, shifting the book so he could hold it more comfortably. Yet another trollish item to make sure no one in the colony ever saw. That would be fun. “Okay, well I at least have a basic understanding of the whole Killahead thing, and the beginning of the war. Humans were there too, you know.”

“Of course, I didn’t mean to imply—” Blinky cut himself off, eyes widening. “Great Gronka Morka, humans were there too.” 

Jim and Toby stared for a second. “Uh, yeah,” Toby eventually said, “in the beginning at least. Didn’t really know that much about the whole ‘Battle of Killahead,’ though. I think most people left before that, right Jimbo?”

Jim nodded slowly. Blinky was still frozen in place. “Right. Or at least that’s what they taught us in school.”

Ah, school. Jim didn’t miss it, but it’d been a simpler time and he had mostly fond memories of it. They’d learned just about everything they needed to know academically until they were around ten. After that, they’d focused on more specialized training for their individual crafts.

Blinky placed a hand to his forehead, looking downright staggered for some reason. It wasn’t long before the expression shifted to one of excitement, and then eventually settled on barely suppressed anticipation when Blinky got ahold of himself.

“You okay, Blinky?” Toby asked.

ARRRGH!!!, on the other hand, had some idea of what was going on. “Just excited.” He told the two humans.

“Why?” Jim asked, still not getting it.

“Why?!” Blinky finally burst, grinning like a maniac. “Master Jim, don’t you see the opportunity here? To compare two sides of history in a way no one has yet been able to? I can’t believe I failed to realize it until now!” Blinky paused, seeming to realize he might be getting ahead of himself. He cleared his throat, before continuing in a much more subdued manner. “Ahem. That is, if you’d be willing to share the human perspective on the war. If not, that is perfectly acceptable. I understand that it might be a touchy subject.”

Jim and Toby took a few seconds to fully process that.

Blinky watched them hopefully.

“Okay, um…” Jim began, looking at Toby for confirmation. Toby shrugged and nodded; he’d be on board with whatever Jim decided to do.

“Well—”

“Trollhunter!” Someone shouted, effectively cutting off Jim’s answer. They all turned, and found a large, female troll running into the Forge, very much out of breath. From the look of things, something was horribly wrong.

“Is it the Hearthstone?” Blinky asked urgently, completely dropping their previous conversation. The female troll answered in negative.

“Stalkling?” ARRRGH!!! tried. Another no.

“Is Bular in Trollmarket?” Jim threw out, because that was something worth all this panic, right? But the stranger only shook her head again.

“No! Gnome!” She finally declared, catching her breath. “Rogue gnome!”

…What?

 

* * *

 

 

As it turned out, the female troll’s name was Bagdwella, and she ran a shop in Trollmarket that Jim vaguely remembered passing at one point. He’d never seen the inside of it until now though, and it was… interesting, to say the least. The items she sold were very different than anything Jim ever saw at the market back home. Which he’d expected, but it still mystified him how things humans viewed as junk could be the exact opposite in the eyes of troll society.

Well, not everything in the shop looked like junk, he supposed. There were some scrapped machine parts that could probably be salvaged for something back at the colony. No, not even probably, those could _definitely_ be repurposed in some way. They only had so many resources when it came to the more industrial side of things, so really any piece of machinery not broken to bits had potential, and sometimes even then. Hmm.

Before he knew it, the scavenger in him was calculating the usefulness of everything in the store. He wasn’t about to take anything, obviously; he wasn’t a thief. But if he could somehow figure out troll monetary and bartering systems, then maybe the scavenging aspect of his life would be a little bit easier. It was something to consider. Tracking down ridiculous amounts of supplies for people like Uhl would be a lot less stressful if he could manage it, that was for sure.

Not that he needed a reminder of how much he still needed to find for their colony’s main blacksmith, on top of everything else. Balancing two separate lives was becoming as tricky as he’d imagined it would be, and he hadn’t even been at it that long. Still, he was going to manage. He had to manage.

He also had to deal with a gnome, apparently? Which was weird, or at least it seemed like it should be. Compared to the life-threatening missions he’d been worried about, facing down a gnome just seemed mundane. But Blinky didn’t appear surprised, and neither did ARRRGH!!!, so…

“Now something disappears every minute!” Bagdwella was saying as Jim tuned back in. She moved to take a seat on a nearby chair, but the gnome, as if to prove her point, zipped by and snatched it out from beneath her. She toppled to the ground with a surprised shriek.

“Ah yes, a gnome.” Blinky agreed, offering her a hand up.

She swatted the hand away and stood up on her own. “Dirty little pests,” she muttered, reaching into a nearby barrel, “Up until last week the glue traps were working fine!” She pulled out one of said glue traps, a gnome skeleton still attached to it. Ew.

Jim couldn’t help his slight jump when, in a flash, the gnome stole that too, cackling all the while. The little guy worked fast, he’d give him that.

“Oh, fix it Trollhunter!” Bagdwella said, with a hopeful, sharp-toothed smile.

Jim took a moment to wonder if he'd somehow missed something, but nope. He _was_ being asked to catch a gnome. And yep, it still felt like a weird thing for the supposed protector of all of trollkind to be doing. To be sure, he asked, "So you want me to... catch a gnome?"

He got a few nods in response.

Still skeptical, he leaned towards Blinky and whispered, “And this is something the Trollhunter does? You guys don’t have like, gnome catchers or something?”

“Well yes, but she came to you. And the Trollhunter must answer every call.” Blinky whispered in reply. “Besides, what better a call for you to train with than a pint-sized quarry?”

Jim nodded. “Yeah okay. This is great actually.” He looked to Toby. “Do you have anything, or…”

Toby gave him a thumbs up. “Dude, I always carry snacks on me. We’re good to go.”

The trolls in the room were staring. “You have a plan already?” Blinky asked, voicing their collective confusion.

“Oh yeah.” Jim agreed, secretly relieved that his first mission would probably be a piece of cake. Gnomes were one of the few things that ever managed to get into the colony—though their numbers were minimal compared to the sheer amount that occupied Trollmarket—so he actually had some experience in dealing with them. “I might be new to all this other Trollhunting stuff, but gnome catching is something I can do. Me and Tobes worked out a system a long time ago.”

“Our neighbors always have us catch them.” Toby added, offering Jim a fist bump that he automatically returned. “We totally got this.”

It was around then that the strumming of tiny guitar strings started up.

They all turned, and found the gnome stepping out onto a shelf, a small guitar-esque instrument made from miscellaneous scrapped parts in hand. It cleared its throat, singing a few notes before play its tiny instrument once more.

The music wasn’t half bad, weirdly enough.

Jim didn’t need to see Toby’s face to know his friend’s eyes were lighting up at the sight. “Jim!” Toby whispered excitedly. “He’s—he’s a tiny little musician!”

“He is trying to distract us! Hold tight to your valuables.” Blinky warned. Then, after a brief pause, he added, “Also, ‘tiny little musician?’ That is a wholly redundant statement.”

“ _More_ importantly,” Jim said, placing a hand on Toby’s shoulder and pulling him back before he could get closer to the gnome, “we are not falling for a gnome’s tricks again. Remember the last time?”

Toby paused, and Jim got the sense he was cringing beneath his mask. “Okay, yeah, you’re right. Sorry, the guitar playing got to me.” Toby straightened. “Nice try, gnome! But your adorable little tricks won’t work on us!”

The gnome snickered mischievously and took off again. Another few items were stolen on the way.

“That little pest!” Bagdwella hissed, taking a swipe at the gnome and missing. “Catch it, before it steals anything else! Some of these things are hard to come by!”

Jim could relate to that more than he wanted to. “Uh, sure, let me just—”

Oh. He glanced down at his armor, realization washing over him. That might be a problem.

Their gnome catching system was fairly simple, in theory. Toby would bait the gnome out into the open—usually with food—and Jim would sneak up on it and catch it. Except tricking a gnome out into the open was harder than Toby often made it look, and sneaking up on one was just as difficult, if not harder. Sneaking up on a gnome in his eye-catching, noise-making armor might be near impossible.

The armor needed to go, and the only way that was going to happen was if the shopkeeper went too.

“Actually,” Jim hesitantly asked, “would you, um, mind waiting outside? It’ll be a lot easier to catch the gnome that way.”

Bagdwella blinked, disbelieving. “You expect me to wait outside my own shop?”

That wasn’t the response he’d been hoping for. “Y-es?” He said slowly, smiling nervously even though she couldn’t see it. “Please?”

For a moment, Bagdwella just stared, as if she wasn’t quite sure what to make of him. “My, you are strange.” She finally said, before releasing a long-suffering sigh. “But very well, if I must. Though I expect that gnome to be caught!”

And then she was leaving.

Jim was honestly surprised it had been that easy. His day was really shaping up to be a good one. At this rate, he might even get home early enough to have a decent night’s sleep!

As Bagdwella disappeared from view, ARRRGH!!! glanced at Jim curiously. “What plan?”

“Yes, I’d like to know that as well. And why did it require Bagdwella to leave?” Blinky asked.

“Well…” Jim gestured for everyone to get closer, and then very quietly filled them in on the plan.

 

* * *

 

 

If there was one thing Toby knew he could do, it was bait a gnome out into the open.

It was an art he’d perfected over the last couple of years. One that required just the right amount of sweetness to lure the gnome out, a large dash of vigilance to ensure the gnome didn’t turn the tables on him, and, of course, a little bit of food to grab the gnome’s attention.

Yes, sometimes he got distracted, because gnomes were cute, funny little guys when they weren’t hissing at you or trying to steal your stuff, but overall his track record was pretty solid. And he was going to help his best friend complete his first trollhunting mission, whether the gnome had the soul of an artist or not!

Gnomes actually reminded him of Jim in some ways. Jim had made a face when he’d first told him that, but it was true! Gnomes were cautious in the same way Jim was when he was out scavenging. They were both smart, and stealthy, and knew how to get out of a bad situation if they needed to. It obviously wasn’t a perfect fit; Jim didn’t hiss or bite or steal, and gnomes didn’t do a lot of things that Jim did, but it was close enough.

Wasn’t there some saying about knowing your enemy? Jim wasn’t the enemy, but Toby knew him better than anyone. And thinking of gnomes as smaller, more feral versions of Jim in scavenger mode probably went a long way towards his ability to convince them to do what he wanted them to.

Tobias Domzalski, “Gnome Whisperer.” Ha. Had a nice ring to it.

Aha! There was his quarry now, lurking in the shadows and watching them all suspiciously. Jim had already ditched his armor, and was now doing his best to blend into the background of the shop, a small bag meant for the gnome hidden behind his back. ARRRGH!!! was guarding the door, making sure Bagdwella didn’t come in and see Jim without the armor, and Blinky was watching on the sidelines, ready to act as backup if Jim failed to catch the gnome.

Everything was in place. Now all that was left was for Toby to work his magic.

Pushing his mask off his face, he dug one of Jim’s homemade honey granola bars out of his pocket, unwrapped it, and dutifully took a bite.

“This is so good!” He exclaimed, a little dramatically. And it was. Jim was the type of chef that could make even healthy snacks taste amazing, but that wasn’t the point. The exclamation had caught the gnome’s attention, and Toby pointedly took another, smaller bite. “Seriously Jim, you outdid yourself this time. Did you use cinnamon? Mmm, it’s awesome!”

The gnome was definitely interested now. Toby could see the gears turning in its head, as it planned its next theft. He watched it carefully, and the second it moved he closed his hands around the granola bar and hid it against his chest, securing it from any and all thievery of the gnome kind.

The gnome, realizing that its plans had been foiled, darted away again, hissing in irritation.

“Hey, it’s my snack!” Toby replied, giving the granola bar a pointed wave. “But, I guess I can share some with you, if you want?” He broke off a small piece of the granola bar and held it out.

The gnome stared at him as if he’d grown a second head, which was a pretty typical reaction when it came to the smarter gnomes.

“C’mon, don’t you want it?” Toby said, his offering still held out to the gnome. The gnome narrowed its little eyes, suspicious.

Toby just shrugged. “Alright, here.” He gently tossed the snack to the gnome, and resumed eating his much larger portion of the granola bar. He didn’t even look the gnome’s way, not wanting to scare it off, only watching from the corner of his eye.

After several long seconds, the gnome scurried forward, snatched up the morsel, and munched it down in one go. It made a pleased humming sound at the flavor, and Toby suppressed a cheer. Success!

The gnome was turning back to him now, still cautious but a lot less hostile than before. It looked at the granola bar, then at Toby, and then at the granola bar again.

“What, you want more?” Toby asked, feigning surprise. “I guess it _is_ pretty good. Here.” He broke off another piece and held it out.

This time the gnome, after a moment of consideration, darted forward and took it directly from his hand. Toby repeated this a few times, until the gnome stopped running away all together and just stood in front of him, waiting for another piece.

The time for springing phase two of their plan was almost upon them.

“Well, looks like it’s all gone.” Toby said, and the gnome chattered in clear disappointment. Before it could leave though, he quickly said. “Oh wait, I think I have another one! Let me just _get it._ ”

While the gnome waited in anticipation while Toby made a big show of searching his pockets, Jim acknowledged the signal and began slowly creeping forward. Toby kept his focus on the gnome, trying not to glance at Jim and give him away.

“Hang on, I know it’s here somewhere…”

Jim was a solid four feet away now. Three feet…two and a half…

Here was the thing about their system though. In theory, it was perfect, and in practice it almost always worked. Keyword “almost.” The fact of the matter was that, sometimes, a new variable was put into play. Such as the gnome they were attempting to catch being highly cautious, and remembering that there were other people in the room that it should probably check up on. It wasn’t any fault of Toby’s or Jim’s, or even Blinky or ARRRGH!!!. It was just one of those things.

But he doubted the reasoning made anyone feel much better when the gnome glanced back and spotted Jim creeping up on it, moments away from catching the gnome and completing their mission.

Jim froze. So did everyone else in the room.

For a long, silent moment, everything was still.

Then in a snap, the room came back to life. Toby wasn’t sure of the exact sequence of events, since everything happened so fast, but he was pretty sure Jim moved first, lunging at the gnome while he still could. The gnome, now aware of what was going on, was just able to dodge, and Jim ended up colliding with Toby. Unbeknownst to them, the sudden impact caused the amulet to fall out of his friend’s pocket and roll a few feet away.

Blinky went for the gnome next, but ended up missing like Jim did. Jim disentangled himself from Toby, and went to help, their whole, orderly plan dissolving into what was basically a mad scramble to catch the gnome, by any means.

Toby got to his feet, and was about to join the chaos, when something shiny caught his eye. He looked, and found the amulet lying on the ground. He moved to grab it, but stumbled back when Blinky cut in front of him while in pursuit of the gnome.

Blinky paused. “Apologies Tobias!”

Toby waved him off, “It’s fine just—” He looked back to where the amulet had been, only to be met with an empty space. “Uh, Jim? Did you grab the amulet?”

Jim looked at him, confused. “What do you mean, it’s right…here?” His friend checked his pockets, only to find them empty. “Oh no—Where’s the amulet?”

“It was right there a second ago, I swear!” Toby said, pointing to the spot on the ground. They were all struck by the same realization at the same time. “Unless…”

The gnome reappeared, the amulet in hand. It cackled victoriously before taking off. Jim went after it, but was brought to an abrupt halt when the gnome vanished behind a large, wooden wardrobe.

Jim struggled with how to get to the gnome for a second, before ARRRGH!!! walked over and gestured for Jim to step back. ARRRGH!!! then pushed the wardrobe aside with a ridiculous amount of ease—something Toby had no trouble admitting he was a little impressed by; seriously, the troll had only used one finger to do it—and there, in the wall the wardrobe had been pressed against, was a hole.

Toby almost swore he could hear the gnome’s laughter echoing out of it.

“Hole.” ARRRGH!!! pointed out, peering inside.

They all crowded around, taking a look at it themselves. “Yes. It appears the plot quite literally deepens.” Blinky said.

Nobody commented on that. Jim reached inside the hole, clearly attempting to summon the amulet back to him. “Come back. Come _back_.” His friend muttered, concentrating. Toby waited for the amulet to come flying back, just like it always did.

Except nothing happened. That was new.

Jim turned to Blinky, bewildered. “Shouldn’t the amulet be coming back to me right about now?”

The expression Blinky pulled was the kind people often made right before they told you something you didn’t want to hear, but needed to hear because you were in trouble and needed to know why. Or something like that.

“I’m afraid that rule only replies if you’ve rejected it.” Blinky explained. “When thieved, it’s a different story. Which, I feel I should mention, you would know, had you read _A Brief Recapitulation._ ”

…So all that time, when Jim was trying to get rid of the amulet, Toby could’ve just stolen it from him and called it a day? What kind of rule was that?

More importantly, though, the armor was Jim’s disguise. Without it, Bagdwella could basically walk in any minute now and the entire human race would be exposed, and that would be bad. That would be very, _very_ bad.

“ _Seriously?_ ” Jim exclaimed, pretty much summing up Toby’s thoughts on the matter.

Blinky shrugged helplessly.

Jim ran an anxious hand through his hair. “Okay. What am I supposed to do then? I can’t fit in that hole.”

For whatever reason, those words seemed to give Blinky an idea. He hummed thoughtfully, before saying, “Currently.”

ARRRGH!!! made a face. “Bad idea.”

“But no Trollhunter has ever lost their amulet.” Blinky placed a hand to his chin, clearly already deep into the planning process. “We’ll need time to procure the Furgolator.”

“Uh, the Furgolator?” Jim asked warily.

Blinky smiled innocently. “Don’t you worry about anything, Master Jim. Tend to your duties back home. ARRRGH!!! will escort you out, and I will watch over the hole. Tomorrow, you’ll return refreshed to deal with this, uh…” Blinky chuckled. “Little problem.”

Right. That wasn’t suspicious at all.

“Hang on one second here,” Toby finally interrupted, because this was kind of something that needed to be addressed. “Just… how, are we getting Jim out of here without, y’know, exposing the entire human race?”

ARRRGH!!! and Blinky shared a look. ARRRGH!!! nodded, splitting away from the group and searching the shop. Jim and Toby watched him, equally confused as to what it was he was looking for.

Then ARRRGH!!! found and held up a large, burlap sack, and Jim’s face took on a look of understanding. “Big enough?” ARRRGH!!! asked.

Jim groaned, “Not this again.”

“Again?” Toby said, still a little confused, before it hit him. “Oh wait—yeah that’s how they snuck you in and out the first time, right?”

“Indeed,” Blinky agreed, “and I’m sure it will work just as well as before. Though you may want to take the back exit, ARRRGH!!!. We wouldn’t want Bagdwella asking questions.”

ARRRGH!!! nodded, before holding the bag open for Jim.

Jim sighed, resigned, and climbed in. It wasn’t exactly what Toby had been expecting, but hey, it worked. And was kind of funny, now that he thought about it. Really funny, actually.

“I can hear you laughing, Tobes.” Came the annoyed, muffled voice of Jim through the fabric, as ARRRGH!!! hefted him easily over his shoulder. “Oof! Please be careful.”

“Sorry.” ARRRGH!!! said, and it was genuine. Except Toby could see he was smiling too. Ha! So it wasn’t just him who thought this was hilarious! Snickering, he offered ARRRGH!!! a fist bump.

The troll blinked in surprise and, after a moment of careful consideration, very gently returned it.

 


	11. Chapter 11

It was late. A single guard was making a routine patrol of the colony’s outskirts. Strickler watched him from the shadows. Once he passed, this section of the Arcadia colony’s outskirts would be clear for at least a half an hour.

It was ridiculous, really, how predictable and full of holes these patrols were. Even before he’d been granted access to the colony, he’d had a majority of their patterns figured out. It made Strickler scoff. With as paranoid as these people were about outsiders, you would think they’d have stronger defenses. Instead, they made the foolish assumption that, with the Barrier in place, nothing could get to them, so long as no one let the monsters in.

Except they had let them in. It had taken years, but Strickler and a few of his fellow changelings had finally gained access to the colony. The rest would be child’s play. They could bring the whole colony toppling down tomorrow night, if they wanted to.

Fortunately for the humans, there was a more important agenda to attend to.

The guard was almost out of sight, when there was a noise just outside the invisible confines of the Barrier. The guard froze, before slowly turning and shining the light of his lantern in that general direction. “H-hello?” The guard called out, and Strickler could practically smell his anxiety. “Whose out there!”

There was no response, thankfully. Bular wasn’t entirely stupid then.

After a long minute of still silence, the guard hesitantly turned away and continued his patrol. Strickler didn’t make any moves until the light of his lantern had faded from sight.

Then, with an irritated sigh, he stepped into the open and left the protection of the colony. “Just what do you think you’re doing, coming this close to the colony? I said I would come to you, are you trying to give everything away?”

Bular stepped out from behind his cover with a dismissive snort. “I wasn’t seen. Even if I was, it’s been too long since I last had a good meal.” The troll chuckled darkly.

Strickler rolled his eyes. “Honestly, it almost seems as if you want to expose our entire plan—” He was abruptly cut off when a hand wrapped itself around his throat.

“Don’t patronize me, impure.” Bular growled, tightening his grip on Strickler’s neck in clear threat. “What I want is to see the progress of the bridge. Something you continue to deny me.”

“Patience, Bular.” Strickler managed to choke out. “I know you don’t like waiting, but if we reveal ourselves too soon—” He sucked in a desperate breath, “—our efforts will be for naught!”

Bular narrowed his eyes, still very displeased, but released his hold on Strickler’s neck. Strickler took in his next few breaths gratefully, but was quick to compose himself, shooting Bular an irritated glare when he wasn’t looking.

“Why even bother hiding it here, right under their noses.” Bular growled, staring at the colony, so close yet still so very much out of reach. For him, anyway. “We could easily construct it in that bunker of yours, and be done with all this disgusting secrecy.”

“And risk being discovered by the people of Trollmarket?” Strickler shook his head. “No, this is our best move. The Barrier will protect it from any suspicious trolls, and the humans still have yet to suspect a thing. That is, as long as you continue to keep your distance.”

That earned him a dark look from Bular, but there was no other retaliation, so Strickler suspected he’d won a point. Good.

Though Strickler knew from experience that it wasn’t wise to leave things on a sour note when dealing with Bular. So, after briefly checking for any prying eyes, he pulled a parcel from his bag and held it out to the red-eyed troll. It was a large chunk of stone. “I received this today from our connection in Trollmarket’s Upper City. I thought you may want to have a look at it.”

Bular snatched the stone from his hand with a twisted smile. “Another piece of the bridge.” Bular said, clearly pleased as he examined the stone. “The age of Gunmar is at hand.”

Strickler glanced back at the colony behind them. Truly, those humans had no idea what was coming.

 

* * *

 

 

“No… Nope…” Jim muttered to himself. “That’s not it—oh!” He eagerly pulled a book off the shelf, hopeful. He examined the cover, his smile fading as he realized this wasn’t the one he was looking for either. With a resigned sigh, he put the book back in its place. “Never mind.”

It’d been a while since he’d last been in Arcadia’s public library, and even longer since he’d been in its history section. Which was probably part of the reason he was having so much trouble finding the book he was looking for.

The main problem was that he couldn’t remember the book’s title. All he had to go on were some vague recollections of the parts of it he’d read for school, and the faintest impression of an author that he couldn’t solidly put a name to. Still, he didn’t let it deter him. This was for a good cause. And if it meant skimming bookshelves until he found the book he was looking for—he was pretty sure he’d know it when he saw it—then so be it.

About halfway through his search, he caught movement in the corner of his eye. He glanced over out of habit, and then did a double take when he realized it was Claire. She was pushing along a cart filled with books in the aisle across from his, periodically stopping to shelf a couple.

Oh yeah, she volunteered here, didn’t she? After a brief moment of indecision, he paused his search of the history books and walked over to her. “Um, hey Claire,” He greeted with a smile.

She gave him a cursory glance, but otherwise didn’t say anything.

Okay…

Shaking it off, he said, “You volunteer here, right? Do you think you could help me out? I’m looking for this book, for a friend—”

“And I was looking for my partner at last night’s rehearsal.” Claire interrupted, shelving her next book a tad aggressively.

The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. “Oh man, the play! I—”

“Look, I’m not some… adventurous scavenger that has to go out and risk their lives everyday, so I don’t know what you have going on, but this play is pretty important to me.” Claire said, shelving another few books. “My whole family’s going to be there, and—”

“No, no, it’s important to me too!” Jim quickly assured, trying to stop everything from spiraling out of control. “I just—I promise I’ll be there next rehearsal, okay?”

Claire examined his face, as if to see if he was lying, before nodding. He could tell he wasn’t quite forgiven yet. “You better.” She began to walk away, only to pause. “Also, I know Steve’s a jerk, but there are better ways to finish a fight than punching someone in the face.” That said, she turned her back on him and disappeared into the aisles of books.

Jim was speechless. Seriously? She hadn’t complained during the actual fight! Besides, it wasn’t like he’d wanted to punch Steve in the face. Okay, he had wanted to, because it was _Steve_ , but he hadn’t been the one to start the fight in the first place!

Ugh, he would never understand girls.

With a sigh, he walked back over to the history section and resumed his search. It took him another ten minutes, but he found what he was looking for. He grabbed the book and checked out without much ceremony, already mentally preparing for the rest of the day.

The good news was that he only had a few things left to collect on Uhl’s list, thanks to the handful of detours he and Toby took on their way home yesterday. What was even better was that he knew where to find most of them, and would probably be able to collect everything he needed before heading to Trollmarket to deal with the gnome.

And even if something did go wrong and he missed a couple things, well, that was understandable. Uhl might grumble about it a little, but it was common knowledge that a scavenger wouldn’t always be able to retrieve everything a person asked for. As long as he got most of it, he would be in the clear.

“Ah, Mr. Lake!” Someone called. He turned, and found Uhl himself walking towards him. Speak of the devil. “Have you collected everything I’ve asked for yet?”

Jim straightened. “Not yet, but I should have everything ready by tomorrow.”

Uhl considered him. “Hm. I should hope so. Most scavengers have failed me, as you’re probably aware.”

Jim smiled nervously. Everyone was aware of that. Uhl was almost impossible to please, expecting large quantities of items within a short amount of time, and they were usually difficult to find items, too. Almost every scavenger he knew dreaded being hired out by Uhl.

There was a plus side, though. If you actually did manage to impress the blacksmith, it was great for your reputation. When Jim first started scavenging, he’d learned quickly that reputation was everything. After all, no one wanted to risk hiring out a scavenger who couldn’t get them what they wanted.

So, as stressful as this particular job had been, he was determined to see it through.

“Well, not me!” He said, with an uncomfortable laugh, as he walked away. “I’ll drop everything off tomorrow morning, see you then!”

 

* * *

 

 

The Furgolator was a large, metal machine, with trollish faces etched into the doors of it, and various pipes sprouting from its top. It opened with a loud whistle and large billows of steam, and the inside was about as welcoming as the outside. That is to say, not at all.

“Full disclosure,” Jim said, eyeing the strange machine as if it might come to life and attack him. Given that he still didn’t know what it was for, it actually might. “I’m still not sure how you talked me into this.”

They had the strange contraption set up in the backroom of Bagdwella’s shop, safely away from any prying eyes. Though Blinky had managed to convince Bagdwella to stay out of the shop until they caught the gnome, Jim figured it was better safe than sorry at this point.

“I can be quite persuasive, when I want to be.” Blinky replied, before laughing a little nervously. “Though before we begin, I feel I should ask: you don’t happen to have any significant duties you need to tend to today, do you?”

“I… got everything else on Uhl’s list earlier, so not today, no.” Jim answered slowly, a little thrown by the question. “Why?”

Blinky smiled, ushering him towards the machine. “Oh, no reason. I just wanted to be sure this… little problem wouldn’t interfere too much with the human aspect of your life.”

Okay, he was liking this less and less. “Wait a second, why would this interfere?” Blinky somehow managed to get Jim to step inside the Furgolator, and the doors began to slowly creak shut. “And how is going into this thing going to help me get a gnome out of a hole?”

“Yeah,” Toby agreed, picking up a rock off a nearby table, “And what is this? It’s cool.”

“Anthracite.” ARRRGH!!! told Toby. At least somebody was getting answers. “For Furgolator.”

The doors to the Furgolator sealed shut with a disturbing sense of finality, but not before Blinky said, “If a gnome won’t come out, then the Trollhunter must go in.”

“Wait, what?” Jim said, trying to peer out the small, glass window of what was beginning to feel like his tomb. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Blinky waved him off. “Don’t worry, Master Jim, we often use the Furgolator to compress minerals.”

The reassurance didn’t make him feel much better. “Compress?! As in squish? Flatten? _Crush?!_ ”

“All good synonyms, but in this case, no.” Blinky picked up a pair of tongs, before gesturing to Toby. “Tobias, the Anthracite, please.”

“Aw, okay.” Toby said, disappointed, before handing it over. Very carefully, Blinky put the Anthracite into place.

Jim jumped as the machine came to life, and smoke began to form at his feet. He shifted uncomfortably, wondering if there was some kind of alternative exit in this death trap. Smoke was never a good sign, right? “You’ve, uh, you’ve done this a few times on flesh and bone before, right?”

“Well, no.” Blinky said, which was the absolute worst possible answer. “But I’m not concerned!”

More smoke was forming, and Jim tried not to panic. “Well that’s because you’re not the one trapped in this thing!” Experimentally, he pushed on the doors, but they didn’t budge in the slightest.

“Not to worry, Master Jim, we work best under pressure!” Came Blinky’s reply, and then Jim couldn’t see him anymore. The whole machine was filling with smoke.

His eyes stung. His throat burned with each breath. Coughing, he said, “I—I can’t see anything!” He pulled his jacket over his nose and mouth so he could breathe easier. There was this weird sort of pressure all around him, like when you swam too deep underwater. “Why is there so much smoke?”

Outside, there was some sort of commotion. He barely registered it over the rattling noise of the Furgolator, but he was pretty sure someone was tugging on the doors. Oh no, something had gone wrong, hadn’t it? Was this how he was going to die, trapped in a crazy metal contraption with no one knowing what had actually happened to him?

Before that train of thought could get too far, there was a loud whistle. Shortly after, the pressure around him eased and the smoke began to clear. He blinked, his eyes watering, as the world came back into focus. He had this strange sense that something was off.

In front of him, the doors opened, and he gratefully headed towards the fresh air, still coughing and waving away smoke. “Eugh, looks like it didn’t work. I guess you’ll have to think of something else…” He stopped. There was something very wrong with this picture.

He looked up. And up. And _up._ And he couldn’t help his sudden scream, because everything was huge!

No. Wait a second, he was—was he—

Blinky chuckled. “On the contrary.” And Jim suddenly found himself being scooped into Blinky’s hand and brought to eye level. Jim clutched at the stone flesh beneath him, struck by a very real sense of vertigo. “I’d say the Furgolator functioned perfectly.” Blinky had the gall to look pleased about this.

Jim opened his mouth to say something, anything, only to find that his mind had gone completely and utterly blank. He had no clue how to respond to being shrunk, it was just too bizarre, too impossible. He looked down at his hands, blinking a few times, wondering if he’d finally had some sort of mental break.

Nope. Still tiny.

Toby had stars in his eyes. “Oh my gosh! Jim you’re like—you’re like one of those tiny people from kid’s stories, this is so cool!”

That snapped him out of it. “Cool? I’m like five inches tall, this isn’t cool, this is a disaster!” He was hit with a dreadful thought. “I’m not going to be stuck like this forever, am I?!”

“Goodness gracious, no.” Blinky quickly assured, with a laugh. “I mean, could you imagine? A five inch tall Trollhunter? Well, I suppose you can, considering we are looking at one.”

“Blinky!” Jim snapped, getting to his feet. Only to sit right back down because that felt _way_ too unstable. “This is not funny! I could be like—like—eaten by a cat or something!” The scenario was just something he’d come up with off the top of his head, but suddenly he realized it was a scarily possible concern. “Oh god, what if I get eaten by a cat!”

“Nonsense.” Blinky said with a wave of a hand, as if he were batting the concern aside. “I assure you, Master Jim, none of us intend to let you be felled by a simple feline.”

“No cat eat Jim.” ARRRGH!!! agreed, before smiling and very, very lightly poking Jim in the side. “So tiny. Weird.”

Jim swatted ARRRGH!!!’s hand away, even though logically he knew the large troll probably didn’t even feel it. He didn’t care. His head was swimming. He could still hardly believe he’d been tricked into getting shrunk, of all things.

Seriously, how did things like this keep happening to him?

“Yes, speaking of,” Blinky said, “you are now the perfect size to go in after the amulet, and I believe it is best that you do so sooner rather than later. Come!” And then they were moving into the main part of the shop before Jim could get another word in.

Pinching the back of Jim’s jacket with two fingers, Blinky lifted him up and deposited him in front of the hole in the wall. Jim stared down it for a moment, trying to come to terms with the fact that, yes, he was now small enough to fit through it.

And Blinky had called this a “little problem.”

Jim paused, re-assessing the words in their new context.

“Oh my—real subtle, Blinky.” Jim said, turning around to shoot the troll a look. “Oh we’ve ‘got to start small’ and ‘deal with the little problem.’ This is a huge problem! I can’t be shrunk! I have things to scavenge! I—” He struggled to find another good example. “I have sinks to reach!”

“Not today, you don’t.” Blinky pointed out, not even looking sorry. “And if I recall correctly, you said as much.”

Jim stared, at a loss for words. That was… technically true.

Blinky raised an expectant eyebrow.

Jim groaned. “All right, yes, fine. You win. Let’s just get this over with.” He turned, preparing to enter the tunnel.

“Oh, wait, hang on!” Toby giggled, producing a pencil from Jim’s bag. He held it out to him with a grin. “Your sword, my liege.”

Jim glared at him, but took the pencil, and then promptly used it to stab Toby’s hand. Toby yelped in surprise, quickly pulling his hand back. Jim was already walking into the tunnel.

So he was going to steal his amulet back from a gnome, at five inches tall, with only a pencil to protect him. Awesome. Just _dandy_. Who needed scavenging when you could do this instead?

He was so done with today.

He slowed as he got deeper into the tunnel, his annoyance fading into wariness. The lighting was getting increasingly dark and eerie, and ever so often he’d hear snatches of the gnome’s laughter, echoing down the passageway from wherever it was at. Jeeze, and he’d thought the forest at night was bad.

“One last thing you should know, when dealing with a gnome, Master Jim, and this is of dire importance!” Came Blinky’s voice behind him

Not looking back, Jim dryly guessed, “Don’t touch its hat?” And because he was still feeling a little spiteful about being shrunk, he added. “Of course! Right there in a Brief Recapitulation!”

“So you’ve read it!” Came Blinky’s delighted reply.

“Of course not!” Jim snapped, briefly turning around so his voice would carry better. “I barely have time to make it to play rehearsals lately, why would I—” He turned back around. “AH!” He jumped back, thoroughly startled. Button eyes stared him down, along with a wide, stitched grin: a doll’s head.

He shuddered. That was definitely not the most pleasant thing to find hanging in an already dark, creepy tunnel. Especially considering that it was the head of a human child’s doll. How had the gnome gotten this? The little guy must get around, that or he stole it from someone who did. Jim sincerely hoped it was the former.

Shooting the doll head one last wary look, he continued onwards, muttering, “This is one _creepy_ little dude.”

Finally, the tunnel began to lighten a little. He slowed, eyeing the area it opened up to. Edging close to the wall, he closed the rest of the distance and carefully peered around the corner. His eyes widened.

“Aren’t you a big fella now.” He muttered to himself, taking in the scene before him. The gnome was continuing on with its life, oblivious to its watcher. It was using the amulet as a table of all things, with two tiny tankards and some unknown morsel of troll food sitting atop it. Propped up directly across from the gnome, as if they were having dinner together, was the stolen gnome skeleton.

The gnome chattered at the skeleton pleasantly, and based off its gestures, Jim was pretty sure the gnome was offering it some food. Obviously the skeleton didn’t respond, which eventually led to the gnome getting offended and wolfing down the food itself.

Jim couldn’t help but stare. This had to be the most bizarre thing he had ever witnessed.

He should probably come up with some sort of plan. Nothing was coming to mind, though, no surprise. It wasn’t like he’d ever _thought_ about what he’d do in the event that he got shrunk and needed to fight a gnome, and he thought about a lot of things. His contingencies had contingencies.

Maybe he could lure the gnome out somehow, and then grab the amulet? Or should he take an offensive route and attack the gnome while he had the element of surprise? It was an unusual tactic for him, but everything he’d once considered ‘usual’ had pretty much vanished from his life these days. The rules of his world were changing; it was about time he really started trying to adapt to them.

Before he could settle on a plan though, the skull of the dead gnome rolled to a stop at his feet. He jumped with a startled shout, but froze when he realized his error. When he next looked at the gnome, he found it staring right at him, aghast.

It chittered at him, looking increasingly outraged.

Jim laughed nervously, taking a cautious step back. “Hey there, gnome…” He said, raising his free hand placatingly. Maybe he could reason with it?

With a furious cry, the gnome charged forward, and effectively threw any hope of ending things peacefully out the window.

The attack was so sudden that Jim didn’t have any chance to dodge out of the way. A newfound reflex kicked in, and he swung the pencil like he might his sword—or admittedly, a baseball bat. There was a satisfying SMACK as he knocked the gnome upside the head, sending it stumbling away from him.

Heart racing, since this was technically his first ever real-life battle as Trollhunter, even if it was with a gnome, he took the opportunity for what it was. He went for the amulet, but was tackled to the ground before he could reach it. Frantically, he thrust the point of the pencil in the gnome’s face, hoping to scare it off, only for the gnome to devour the makeshift weapon all the way to its stub.

Jim stared at the destroyed pencil. The gnome licked its lips, grinning evilly.

Okay then.

Jim chucked the pencil at its face.

The gnome screeched in surprise as the pencil hit it in the eye. Jim scrambled away from it, getting back to his feet. The amulet, he needed to get to the amulet. Especially now that his ‘weapon’ had been reduced to basically nothing.

But the gnome was persistent. It latched onto him, and after a short struggle Jim just managed to gain the upper hand. Unfortunately, the gnome slipped out of his grasp. Even worse though, was that the gnome’s hat didn’t. Jim could only stare at it for a moment. “Oh no.”

The gnome came to the same realization he did, patting at the now exposed horn that jutted out of its skull. It gasped, and then glared at Jim, even more enraged than before.

“You’ve got to be—no, no, no—” Jim muttered, dropping the hat like it had spontaneously caught fire. “I touched its hat, I touched its hat, I touched its hat!”

With an angry screech, the gnome charged again, its head lowered so the point of its horn was primed to skewer. Jim, in a moment of insane, frantic genius, picked up the hat again, using it to taunt the gnome into running straight into a pile of its stolen junk. He threw the hat at it, before sprinting for the amulet for what felt like the umpteenth time.

Surprisinly, the gnome ignored the hat in favor of going after Jim. Good to know he really had gotten on its bad side. He was so _close_ , but the gnome tripped him up, grabbing onto one of his legs and dragging him back towards its sharp, gnashing teeth. Desperately, Jim reached out for the amulet. Just a little closer…

“For the glory of Merlin—” He caught the edge of the amulet, and quickly finished with, “Daylight is mine to command!”

The gnome’s eyes widened as the armor formed around him. It backed away, allowing Jim to get back to his feet. Jim grinned victoriously, something the gnome was just able to catch before the armor’s helmet appeared and concealed it. The tides had turned.

The gnome attempted to escape, but Jim blocked its path with his sword. “Don’t even think about it.” He warned.

The gnome whimpered, looking defeated.

He hesitated. “Look, don’t worry. Me and Tobes have a strict ‘catch and release’ policy.” Jim told it, carefully picking its hat up off the ground. “You just can’t come back here, like, ever again.”

The gnome didn’t appear pleased with this idea. It hissed at Jim, taking a bold step forward.

Jim quickly scared it back again with his sword. “Hey, hey, watch it. It’s better than being caught in a glue trap or something.” Keeping his sword between him and the gnome at all times, he began herding it forward. “Now c’mon, let’s go. I’d say I have stuff to do but,” he sighed, “I’m five inches tall. Honestly I just want to sleep at this point.”

The gnome made a grudgingly curious sound.

“Yeah, I know. Some Trollhunter I am.” Some part of him realized he was technically holding a conversation with a gnome, and that that was probably weird and not very Trollhunter-y at all, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. It’d been a long day.

 

* * *

 

 

Blinky listened raptly to the sounds of fighting echoing from the hole in the wall, but for the life of him he couldn’t determine who had the upper hand. There was a particularly loud crash, and he winced.

“That doesn’t sound favorable.” He commented.

Tobias seemed worried. “He’s fine, right? He’s totally got this.”

ARRRGH!!! nodded in agreement, but Blinky could tell he was concerned as well. “Jim fine.”

They all stared down the small, dark passageway, listening attentively. In fact, they were so focused on trying to discern who was winning the fight that they completely missed Bagdwella coming up behind them. At least, until she spoke a few seconds later.

“Well? Has he caught it yet?”

They jumped, whipping around to face the unexpected company. “Wha—Bagdwella, what is it you think you’re doing here?” Blinky exclaimed, glancing back to be sure Master Jim hadn’t returned during their few seconds of distraction. He had not.

Bagdwella gave him highly offended look. “In case you’ve forgotten, _Blinkous_ , this is my shop. I can come and go as I please.”

Blinky struggled to contain his frustrations. Getting into an argument with Bagdwella made things worse more often than better. “Yes, I am aware of this, Bagdwella, but I also recall specifically requesting that you remain elsewhere until we were finished here.”

“And I did.” Bagdwella pointed out, a hand on her hip and a challenging air about her. “But I wasn’t sure when you’d be finished, so I came to check. I do have customers waiting on this, you know.”

“Well, I’ll be sure to fetch you when the Trollhunter has caught the gnome, now if you will—”

“Guys, shh!” Tobias suddenly exclaimed. “The fighting stopped.”

It had. Blinky turned away from Bagdwella, searching for any signs of Master Jim, pointedly blocking Bagdwella’s view of the hole while he was at it. Several more seconds of silence passed, but neither Master Jim nor the gnome came into view.

“Why isn’t he coming out?” Tobias asked, worried.

Blinky didn’t have an answer for that. Or rather, he didn’t have any particularly pleasant answers. And then the gnome appeared, looking very unhappy, its hat missing.

They all gasped.

Then Master Jim stepped into view as well, his armor fully activated. He was holding the gnome at sword point, its missing hat held in his free hand. Well, so much for not touching the gnome’s hat. It hardly mattered at this point, though; Master Jim had clearly succeeded.

Blinky beamed, applauding along with ARRRGH!!!. “You summoned the armor and caught the gnome! Well played, Master Atlas.”

Bagdwella shoved her way past them, and Blinky let her, since there was no longer any concern now that Master Jim had his armor once more. “Oh, my hero!” She declared. And people called him dramatic.

Master Jim did a sort of small, mock bow. “Thank you, thank you. I don’t want to forget the little people.” Jim nudged the gnome with the flat of his blade, and they both climbed down to the ground. Once there, Jim tossed the gnome’s hat a little ways away. The gnome went after it, and Tobias promptly captured it in a bag.

Blinky laughed. “Expedient and good humored.”

“Yeah, well you’re still not off the hook for shrinking me.” Master Jim warned, but there wasn’t much bite behind it. Blinky suspected it was more a matter of principle, than anything. “But speaking of, how long until it wears off? I’d really like to not be tiny anymore.”

“Oh, sleep it off, Master Atlas. You should be back to your normal size come tomorrow.” Blinky grinned. “And how you have earned it! Master Atlas, ‘the gnome slayer!’ Has a nice ring to it, yes?”

Tobias shrugged. “I mean, technically no slaying has been done, but… sure, it’s kinda cool.”

“Ah, yes, well you do still have to take care of it.” Blinky agreed, picking Master Jim up and setting him on top of some nearby crates, so he wouldn’t have to look up at them so much. “Then the moniker should be more appropriate.”

“Take care of it?” Master Jim asked.

Odd. Master Jim sounded almost… hesitant. “Rule number two,” Blinky clarified, unsure of what the issue was. “A Trollhunter must always finish the fight.”

“Oh. Right.” Master Jim said, glancing at the trapped gnome. “Finish as in… kill it.”

The reluctance was still there though, and Blinky was truly baffled by it. He was missing something, but what—

It hit him.

This wasn’t anything new. Master Jim had already expressed to him that most humans would consider rule number two to be a tad harsh. And as hard as Master Jim worked to maintain his cover as a troll, his first instincts would always be that of a human.

Blinky glanced at Bagdwella, who was listening to the conversation with a casual curiosity. This could be problematic.

“Correct.” Blinky agreed, with a pointed look at their current company. “As the _Troll_ hunter does.”

Master Jim shifted uncomfortably in place, before nodding firmly. “Yeah, of course. I’ll deal with it when I get home.”

Blinky released a small sigh of relief, before smiling. That was good enough. “Very well. We should be off, then!”

Tobias nodded and stepped forward, offering Master Jim a hand. Jim stepped into it, settling cross-legged in Tobias’s palm. “You good to go, Jimbo?”

“Yeah, just don’t drop me, okay?”

“Never, dude.”

A light, friendly banter started up between them, and the two were soon following ARRRGH!!! out the door, the conversation fading as they disappeared from view. It was fortunate that Tobias was around so much, Blinky mused. He made for good moral support.

Picking up a bag Tobias had forgotten, Blinky moved to follow the group, only to stop when Bagdwella spoke up. “Atlas the ‘Gnome Slayer,’ you said?” Bagdwella smirked. “Not bad, but I do think the other moniker suits him better.”

Blinky shot her a displeased look, but was secretly uneasy about what sort of point she was trying to make. Had she noticed more about Master Jim than she should have? “I would hardly call that nonsense going around a title. Honestly.”

Bagdwella barked a laugh. “Don’t get so fussy, Blinkous. I meant no offense. Your Trollhunter did fix my little gnome problem. Even if it took awhile.” She shrugged. “He is a rather odd sort of troll, though. Is it true no one’s ever seen his face?”

“Unconventional.” Blinky corrected tersely, ignoring Bagdwella’s question entirely. So she was just intrigued by the usual gossip then. That wasn’t too bad, since most of the rumors were pure speculation. Still, he decided it might be time to fill Master Jim in on them, before things got out of hand. “Are you quite finished indulging in rumors, Bagdwella?”

Bagdwella harrumphed. “Well, if you’re going to be like that about it. I was just curious.” She turned away from him. “Besides, based on what I’ve seen, Atlas ‘the Strange’ is hardly an unfounded title.”


	12. Chapter 12

“No, left here, Tobes, _left._ ” Jim instructed from his perch on Toby’s shoulder. Above them, the sky was just beginning to take on peachy hues. At this rate, they might not be able to make it back to the colony before night fell.

Which, oddly enough, was not as alarming as it probably should have been, considering he’d had “don’t go outside the colony at night” drilled into his brain since he was a kid. The trolls must’ve been rubbing off on him, and he couldn’t help but wonder if he should be concerned about that. Trollhunter or not, he was still human, and allowing himself to become so at ease with night could be a very dangerous thing indeed.

He’d have to try harder to keep their nighttime excursions to a minimum, as difficult as that would be. They’d be better off that way.

“Right.” Toby said. His breathing was heavy from the constant fast pace he’d been keeping up. “I mean, left, but you’re right that it’s left—WHOA!”

Toby stumbled, only just catching himself on a nearby tree. Jim didn’t even have time to gasp, the force of the motion nearly flinging him off his friend’s shoulder. It was only the tight grip he’d had on Toby’s shirt that saved him, abruptly halting his fall and leaving him half dangling off Toby’s shoulder.

Shaking, he quickly clambered back to his original, safer position. For a moment, neither of them moved.

“You okay?” Toby asked.

“Yeah.” Jim took a breath. “Maybe—maybe slow down a little?”

“Dude, I thought you’d never ask.” Toby slowed down, his relief clear and his steps noticeably more careful. “You sure you don’t want to ride in one of the bags or something? It might be safer.”

Jim made a face. Just imagining being stuck inside such a cramped space, with little to no knowledge of what was going on outside, made him shudder. “No thanks, I’m good here. Besides, I’m kind of the only one who knows the way home?”

“I could get back on my own!” Toby protested. “I mean, it would take a lot longer, but I could do it. Just you wait, Jimbo, I’ll be a master forest navigator in no time.”

Jim laughed. “I don’t doubt it, Tobes.”

Toby nodded, satisfied. “Good.” The expression didn’t last long, being quickly replaced by a cringe as Toby readjusted his grip on the bags he was carrying. “Ugh, these are getting heavy. I wish ARRRGH!!! or Blinky could have come with to help. It’s late enough for them to be safe in the forest, right?”

Jim was genuinely surprised by the suggestion. “I mean, yeah, but then they’d know where the colony was.”

Toby blinked, and seemed equally surprised for a moment. “Oh. Right.” A pause. “Hey, Jimbo? I’ve been thinking.”

“About?”

“Well, about Blinky and ARRRGH!!!, and how we’re all evasive about home and everything with them? I think we should stop that.” Toby said decisively. “Like, I trust them, and I know you trust them, so why bother?”

Jim opened his mouth to respond, only to realize he didn’t actually have an answer. He’d been keeping up the secrecy out of habit these days, mostly. Better safe than sorry, some automatic part of his mind had said, and he hadn’t thought to question it. That caution had helped keep him alive in his early scavenging years, after all, when he’d barely known which sections of forest were safe and which were teeming with hungry Gumm-Gumms, just waiting for a human to make a wrong turn.

Habits aside though, now that he was actually thinking about it, his worries felt unexpectedly groundless. The very idea that Blinky or ARRRGH!!! would do anything bad with any information they learned just seemed bizarre and downright wrong, didn’t fit with the trolls—no, with the _people_ he was coming to know.

The realization sort of threw him for a minute. “I—you’re sure?”

Toby shrugged, abruptly halting the gesture when he remembered Jim was on his shoulder. “Well, yeah. I get that you’re just trying to keep everyone in the colony safe, really. I am too! But Blinky and ARRRGH!!! are on our side, and trying to keep secrets from them, on top of literally everyone else, just sounds super exhausting, y’know?”

Jim nodded, letting himself warm to the idea. Though people tended to underestimate his friend, he knew Toby was smart and perceptive in ways a lot of people weren’t, and it was in moments like this when it showed. “Okay.” He said, thinking it over. “But I still don’t think we should say anything about the colony’s actual location, alright? Everything else if fine, but that just feels too risky.”

“Fair enough.”

They had a few moments of comfortable silence, and then the gnome started to struggle in its bag again. Toby quickly fixed his hold on the bag, so he wouldn’t accidentally drop it and release their captive.

Jim sighed, peering down at the trapped gnome wearily. “Right. Almost forgot about him.”

“Yeah, me too.” Toby glanced at Jim to the best of his ability, considering Jim’s current perch. “So are you… actually going to kill it?”

“No.” Jim said. He paused. “Yes? I don’t know. I don’t _want_ to kill it, but I told Blinky I would.”

“Well, I mean its not like Blinky would know.” Toby pointed out. “We could let it go right now, let it live out the rest of its life in the woods.”

Jim shook his head, truly torn. “You didn’t see it, Tobes, the gnome seemed pretty attached to that place. What if it goes back? I’ll just—I’ll just do what I said I would and finish the fight.”

Toby looked doubtful. “Okay… if you’re sure.”

He was. Or he should be. He was the Trollhunter now, wasn’t he? And that meant finishing the fight.

Still, just imagining it had him cringing. “Oh, who am I kidding?” He said, his shoulders slumping in resignation, “We can’t kill this thing. Neither of us are killers.”

Toby was silent for a moment, before unexpectedly saying, “I am.”

Had he heard that right? “You _are_?”

Toby nodded solemnly. “Detective Snuggles. Nana warned me not to leave my chocolate lying around. But it was just after Easter, and I’d pulled in a big haul!” Toby sighed. “I never thought that cat would find my stash! But he did, and by the time I found him…” Toby trailed off, but it wasn’t hard to figure out what happened next.

“Death by chocolate.” Jim said, before attempting to reassure his friend. “It’s not the worst way to go.” Especially when you considered the amount of cats that made the mistake of wandering outside the colony, only to end up eaten by a troll or a goblin.

Toby cringed. “It gets worse. I never had the heart to tell nana, so, to cover up the murder I, used to eat his cat food to make it seem like he was still around!” Toby admitted, his face despondent. “And… I liked it!”

Jim made a face, before patting Toby’s shoulder comfortingly. “Don’t beat yourself up, Tobes. We both had a big day, and—” He cut himself off, taking in their surroundings. “And we’re getting close to the colony, yes! It’s barely even dark yet, too.”

Toby sniffed and rubbed his eyes, pulling himself back together. “We should still sneak in though, right? With the gnome, and y’know… you.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” Jim agreed. The last thing they needed was anyone in the colony seeing him like this. “I can’t wait to get a full night’s sleep for once.”

“But wait, what about the gnome?” Toby asked, concerned. “Don’t we still have to deal with it?”

“We’ll figure something out tomorrow.” Jim decided. “When things are back to normal.”

“Right.” Toby agreed, glancing thoughtfully at the gnome, and then at Jim. “We’ll figure something out.”

 

* * *

 

 

Jim woke up the next morning feeling well rested for the first time in what felt like ages. He smiled sleepily, content; finally, a full night’s sleep.

And hey, was the bed the right size again? The shrinking thing must’ve worn off, although the mattress did seem unusually stiff. He rolled over, trying to get comfortable, only to scream when he found a painted doll face inches away from his own. He screamed again when he noticed Toby peering through the window, still giant, and, in his startled, sleep-hazed attempts to get away, rolled off the bed entirely.

Ouch. He sat up, his heart pounding as Toby opened up the dollhouse. If he hadn’t been awake before, he definitely was now.

“What’s wrong tiny Jim?” Toby asked. “Did you not sleep well in nana’s dollhouse?”

Truly dismayed, Jim got to his feet and stepped into Toby’s offered hand. “Why am I still small Toby?”

Toby shrugged, setting him on the ground. “I don’t know. Maybe this stuff works differently on trolls than it does humans?”

Of course it would work differently. He had thought getting shrunk in the first place was a nightmare, but this was so, _so_ much worse. What if it never wore off? What if he was actually stuck like this forever?

And he still had the gnome to deal with and—wait a minute, where was the gnome? He glanced around, but his vantage point from the ground wasn’t that fantastic.

“Where’s the gnome? Toby did you take care of it, I was supposed to do that—agh!” He clutched at his hair as another thought hit him. “I’m supposed to bring Uhl all his stuff this morning! I can’t go like this!”

“You’ll just have to bring it tomorrow, or whenever the whole shrinking thing wears off.” Toby said with a shrug.

“Who knows when that’s going to happen! If it ever does!” He started to pace, his mind racing. “What do I do, what do I _do…_ ” He muttered, trying to come up with a solution.

Toby’s face brightened. “Oh! Oh hey, I’ve got it! I’ll just bring it all for you!”

Jim stopped pacing to look at Toby. “What?”

“Yeah, I’m technically kind of your apprentice right? Since you’re teaching me how to scavenge? And apprentices do stuff like that sometimes, don’t they?” Toby grinned. “I’ll just… say you were sick and couldn’t make it!”

Jim mulled that over. It could work. Maybe. “No, no, I was fine when he saw me yesterday, um… How about food poisoning?”

“Cause you,” Toby thought about it, “ate your mom’s cooking!”

“Yes, that’s perfect!” Jim agreed. “Tobes, you’re the best!”

Toby smirked proudly. “I know. But it’s a team effort dude.” Toby held out a fist, and Jim bumped it with his currently much smaller one. “So where’s the stuff? I’ll go right now.”

“Good idea. It’s in my room, I already gathered it all up yesterday, but don’t forget anything!” Jim told him, taking a few steps back so Toby could stand. He hesitated, realizing that left him with nothing to do. “I guess I’ll wait here.”

Toby paused, before nodding. “Yeah that’s probably for the best, sorry dude. I’ll try and be quick, okay? Um…” Toby considered their surroundings. “I think it’ll be safer if you wait in the dollhouse?”

Jim sighed, but knew Toby was probably right. “Yeah that’s fine. Go grab the stuff, I’ll just hang out in here.” He walked into the dollhouse’s living room and, after a moment of consideration, took a seat on the couch.

Toby watched him, and sort of giggled. Jim shot him a withering look. “You still think this is really cool, don’t you.”

“Honestly Jimbo, I don’t understand how you think it isn’t.” Toby admitted.

Well. Probably because it left him with nothing to do but wait in a dollhouse and worry about Toby’s cats coming to get him. “Later Tobes.”

“Heh. Later tiny Jim!” Toby said, heading for the door. “Don’t worry, if it doesn’t wear off by tonight, we’ll go see Blinky!”

Jim nodded, even though Toby was gone and couldn’t see it. For a few very long minutes, he sat in silence. It quickly sunk in just how little he had to do now.

He tried to be optimistic about it at first; he finally had some time to kick back, relax, and do nothing. Except he’d never been much of a fan of doing nothing, and it wasn’t long before he felt himself starting to grow bored and mildly antsy. After the constant fast pace of the past few days, this abrupt resting period just felt uncomfortable.

That is, until Toby’s nana came in and accidentally released the gnome—which was not dead, apparently—and Jim had to fight it a second time. He won, finally returned to normal size, and somehow managed to befriend the little guy somewhere along the way.

And hey, even if naming the gnome and letting it live in the dollhouse wasn’t exactly what Blinky had meant by “take care of it,” it was still a win, right?

Then he realized he’d missed almost half of rehearsal, and suddenly the win felt like less of a win.

Next time, he’d just enjoy the peace while it lasted.

 

* * *

 

 

Claire really wished she could focus more on rehearsal, and less on the person who still hadn’t shown up yet, even though he’d promised he would.

She didn’t get it. Yeah, she didn’t know Jim all that well, but he’d always seemed like a nice guy, sweet and funny in a dorky sort of way. And the more she talked to him, the more this seemed to be true, and the more she wanted to get to know him better.

Yet he kept missing rehearsals without any good reason! Or at least, not a very clear one. He’d seemed genuinely apologetic the last time she’d talked to him about it, so she didn’t think it was a purposeful jerk move on his part. If it was he was pretty good at hiding it.

Despite her best efforts, she found herself increasingly frustrated over the issue. Something wasn’t adding up here, and she knew that for a fact. Unfortunately, that was about the only thing she knew that wasn’t pure speculation.

“Claire? Claire!”

Claire snapped back to reality, blushing when she realized just how long she’d been zoned out. Seriously, when did she start letting herself get so distracted by a boy? That was usually Mary’s department. “S-sorry, Ms. Janeth, what was that?”

“It’s your line, dear.” Ms. Janeth told her with a stern look. “Mr. Lake may have failed to show, but that’s no excuse for you to go slacking off too.”

Claire’s blush deepened. “Of course. Sorry just let me—” She flipped through her script, trying to recall her place. When she found the appropriate line, her relief was nearly palpable. “Ahem. My—”

The main door to the theater opened, effectively cutting her off. She straightened, startled and unexpectedly hopeful. Had Jim actually made it?

Then Steve walked in, and she mentally reprimanded herself for getting her hopes up. She’d seen how bad Jim was at making rehearsals already, really, she shouldn’t expect any different now. It didn’t make it any less disappointing.

Trying to forget about Jim, she focused on the situation at hand. Just what was Steve up to, anyway?

Steve grinned, showing off his newly lost tooth (though that probably wasn’t his intention). He walked down to the stage like he owned the place, and had to be either oblivious or totally uncaring of the rehearsing he’d just interrupted.

Ms. Janeth was giving him a doubtful look. “Mr. Palchuk,” she said, tapping her pencil against her clipboard impatiently, “you do realize you’re interrupting rehearsal, don’t you?”

“Well yeah, that’s why I’m here.” Steve stated confidently, earning him several raised eyebrows, Claire’s included. “I want to join the play.”

Ms. Janeth considered him, still unconvinced. “I’m afraid the auditions were some time ago, Mr. Palchuk. There are no longer any available parts for you to play.”

Steve was unfazed by the rejection. If anything, he looked even more determined to get a part in the play than before. “Oh c’mon, there’s gotta be something. I’m really interested in joining.” As he said that, Claire could almost swear Steve glanced at her, but it happened so fast she wasn’t sure if she’d imagined it or not.

“Hmm. That may be, but that doesn’t…” Ms. Janeth trailed off, becoming thoughtful. “Actually… Ms. Nuñez, Mr. Lake still hasn’t arrived, has he?”

Claire didn’t like where this was going, but still answered, “Um. No, ma’am.”

Ms. Janeth nodded. “I see. Then this might be for the best, actually.” She flipped through a few papers on her clipboard and jotted something down. Meanwhile, she said, “Mr. Palchuk, how would you feel about acting as an understudy for the part of Romeo? Mr. Lake has made a poor habit of not showing up for rehearsals, and I want to be prepared for any eventuality.”

Steve’s grin widened. “Sounds cool.”

“Very well, then,” Ms. Janeth said with an absent wave of her hand, “Go get up on stage with Ms. Nuñez. Mr. Pepperjack would you please fetch our new understudy a spare script!”

Eli nodded and hurried off, while Steve joined Claire on stage. He nodded to her. “Hey.”  
She smiled awkwardly, not sure what to think of this. “Hi.”

It wasn’t long before rehearsal was in full swing again, and Claire quickly decided that she liked rehearsing with Steve a lot less than she did with Jim. Steve seemed to want to make everything about him, nearly cutting off her own lines with his, at times.

When the theater door next opened, some time later, it was Jim finally walking through. Claire’s disappointment with him only faded a little though; he was too late, after all.

Jim seemed to realize it too. That was something at least.

 

* * *

 

 

Jim wanted to kick himself. Had he seriously missed so many rehearsals that they thought making _Steve_ his understudy was a good idea?

Jeeze, Claire must hate him at this point! She’d barely even glanced at him the entire time he was there. He couldn’t really blame her; he probably seemed like a class-A jerk, right up there with Steve. And wow, wasn’t that a depressing thought.

He opened the front door with a sigh. He seriously needed to figure out how to balance his two lives, because if things kept up like this he probably wasn’t going to last much longer. It seemed like every time he had a handle on one problem, another one cropped up right after and threw a wrench in his plans. It was more than a little frustrating.

“That you, Jim?” His mom called, drawing him from his dismal thoughts.

“Yeah,” Jim replied, hanging his bag on the banister post nearest the door. “Did you just get back too? Should I heat up dinner?”

His mom came down the stairs, still dressed in her plain, practical doctor’s garb. “Thanks kiddo, but I was actually just heading out.” She planted a kiss on his forehead, before pausing, taking in his expression. “Why the glum look?”

Jim shrugged. “It’s nothing, really.” He tried to head for the kitchen. “Do you have another night shift? You should still take something with you to eat later—”

Barbara placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back. “Whoa, hold on there. Who’s the parent in this relationship again?” She gestured for him to follow her to the couch. “C’mon, I’ve got some time. Talk to me. What’s going on?”

Well, he’d become the Trollhunter for one. He’d been to Trollmarket multiple times, accidentally revealed the existence of humans to two trolls he was now friends with, was preparing for a fight with another troll who sort of hated him, and had, until a few hours earlier, been stuck at a diminutive five inch height because he had needed to catch a gnome. And, on top of that, all of that craziness was interfering with a play he’d tried out for because the girl he’d liked had asked him to, and now that very same girl probably hated him for it.

Jim couldn’t exactly _say_ that though.

“I guess I’ve been a little stressed lately, that’s all.” Jim told her with a sigh. “I just finished that whole deal with Uhl today, and you know how he is.”

“Not personally, but I’ve heard the stories.” She scrutinized Jim’s face with a tinge of concern. “You do look tired. Have you been getting enough sleep?”

“Uh… yeah,” Jim lied half-heartedly, “I think so?”

Unsurprisingly, his mom looked doubtful. “Uh-huh. You know for some reason, I’m having trouble believing you.” She met his eyes, looking serious. “You’re not overworking yourself, are you? Me and Walter were talking—”

“Whoa, hold on.” Jim said, gesturing for her to stop. “Walter? You mean Mr. Strickler? When were you talking to him?”

Barbara shrugged. “Oh, we just sort of ran into each other when I was breaking for lunch. He really is a nice guy.”

“I mean—yeah, but were you—was it—” Jim struggled with how to put it, much to his mom’s obvious amusement. He shook his head. “You know what, never mind.” He didn’t want to know.

“No, it wasn’t a _date._ ” His mom answered with a wry smile. “But that’s not the point. Like I said, we were talking, and we agreed you have a tendency to…” She sighed, thinking of how to put it, “To take on more than someone your age really should.”

Jim cringed, before trying for a reassuring smile. “It’s fine mom, you don’t have to worry about me. I don’t do that much.”

His mom’s eyebrows went up in clear skepticism. “Oh really? Because I’m pretty sure all the household chores don’t do themselves, as cool as that would be. And on top of all your scavenging jobs, a play, and apparently teaching Toby to be a scavenger?”

“I—” Jim sighed, knowing she had him beat. “I guess that does sound like a lot, but I don’t mind. I like doing stuff for you, mom.”

If anything, that only seemed to make her worry more. “I’m the parent, Jim. I’m supposed to be taking care of you, not the other way around.”

Jim was quiet as he considered that, unsure of what to say. And then, softly, he began, “Do you… remember when dad left? You told me, ‘we just have to take care of each other.’” He gave her a small smile. “That’s all I’m doing, mom.”

For a long moment, his mom just seemed to take him in, and then she was pulling him into a tight hug. He returned the gesture whole-heartedly.

“How did I end up with such an incredible kid?” His mom muttered into his hair. She kissed his forehead, before pulling back. “Alright. But if I think for one second that you’re overextending yourself, I’m going to have to insist you cut back. Starting with the things you do for me. Got it?”

Jim nodded, if a little reluctantly. “Got it.”

He’d just have to get better at keeping on top of things.

His mom looked relieved. “Okay. Good.” She glanced at the clock, and looked disappointed that she’d have to leave soon. “I should probably get going. One more less serious thing though.” She reached over a picked a book up off the coffee table. “Did you bring this home?”

Jim instantly recognized it as the book he’d recently checked out from the library. He must’ve left it out on the coffee table by accident. “Oh! Yeah, ha…” He gladly took it from her when she offered it. “Just… brushing up on some old history lessons.”

His mom raised an eyebrow. “Well that’s good, I guess.” He could tell she was still a little puzzled. “The war’s not exactly the happiest of topics, but I’m glad you still have an interest in learning.”

“Heh. Yeah…” Jim glanced away, smiling awkwardly, when he was struck by an odd thought. He paused, before carefully asking, “Hey, mom? What’s your opinion on trolls, anyway?”

His mom blinked, surprised by the question. “On trolls?”

Jim shrugged. “Yeah, like what do you think of them? I don’t think I’ve ever actually asked you before.”

Barbara thought about it. “I guess I don’t really have an opinion on them, personally. I know some people hate them, and some people are terrified of them, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt that way.” She paused, before giving him a stern look. “I do know they’re dangerous though, Gumm-Gumm or not, so you better be avoiding them when you’re out there.”

“Well y-y _eah_ , obviously…” Jim said, putting the history book back on the coffee table so he wouldn’t have to look her in the eye. “I mean, c’mon, what kind of crazy person would purposefully go anywhere near a troll? Not me.”

His mom considered him, before nodding decisively. “Good. You already scared me enough that one night you went missing.” Jim could only bring himself to nod in agreement. “Okay, I really should get going now, sorry.” She kissed him on the forehead, before standing. “Love you, sweetie. I’ll see you later.”

He waved as she picked up her bag and headed for the door. “Love you too.”

His mom shot him one last smile, and then she was gone. For a moment, Jim just sat there. Then he buried his face in his hands with a groan.

“‘What kind of crazy person goes near a troll?’ Oh my _god_.” He muttered to himself.

His mom was going to kill him if she ever found out.


	13. Chapter 13

“…We’re making steady progress on the Bridge,” Strickler reported, “and we’ve successfully settled the goblin nest nearby, so it should act as a decoy, if the humans happen to get suspicious. As it is, though, they continue to remain unaware of our plans.”

Bular made a dismissive, almost bored humming sound in acknowledgement. Strickler felt his eye twitch in annoyance.

“Also,” Strickler continued, keeping his tone level through sheer force of will. The things he had to put up with… “Groups of human traders should be arriving starting tomorrow; a few of our men are among them, transporting more pieces.”

“Your point?” Bular said.

“My _point_ ,” Strickler replied curtly, “is that most convoys fail to reach the colony and deliver their goods. It’d be wise if these ones were allowed to.”

Bular scrutinized him.

Strickler stared back impassively.

“They’ll make it.” Bular said with a nod, before smirking darkly. “Though they won’t get far once they’ve left.”

Strickler frowned, but didn’t comment.

Bular noticed. “You seem bothered, impure,” Gunmar’s son noted, “don’t tell me you’re getting attached?”

“Hardly.” Strickler was quick to reply, though not too quick as to seem suspicious.

“Hm. I should hope so.” The statement held a clear warning of consequences, if Strickler was lying. “And what of the human Trollhunter?”

“We’re keeping an eye on him.” Strickler said, keeping his face carefully blank. “As far as we know, he remains unaware of our plans.”

“Yet you’re still keeping him alive.” Bular shot Strickler a suspicious, narrow-eyed glance. “Why?”

“I’ve told you, killing him will draw too much attention—”

“Inside the humans’ protective little Barrier, certainly.” Bular interrupted. “But he is often outside it. It would be easy to kill him then, without risking our plans.”

Strickler pursed his lips, knowing Bular was right. It was something he himself had realized a long time ago. “Jim’s not stupid. He knows how to avoid our like when scavenging—”

Bular scoffed. “Excuses.”

“Let me finish.” Strickler bit out, meeting Bular’s gaze unflinchingly. The look Bular gave him in kind said that Strickler’s response better be good. “As I was saying, the boy is smart. Don’t underestimate him simply because he’s human. However, if you are able to catch him outside the colony unawares, feel free to do as you please.”

“I intend to.” Bular promised, a dangerous glint in his eyes. “A shame he’s so small. He’s hardly an appetizer. Still,” Bular’s grin was downright twisted, “I can hardly _wait_ to feel his scrawny neck snap beneath my hands.”

Strickler didn’t say anything, his mouth only twisting into the smallest of grimaces, before he smoothed his expression over once more.

He’d done what he could for Jim, if only because he felt a degree of fondness for the boy. Favorite student or not, though, Strickler wasn’t about to risk Bular’s wrath protecting him. The Trollhunter was on his own now.

It was a shame, really. The boy had so much potential. If anyone could’ve survived Gunmar’s return, it would’ve been Jim. Strickler had trained him well, and would’ve even been inclined to turn a blind eye to the escape of a couple of humans once the Bridge was successfully opened. What’s a few slipping through the cracks, after all? Gunmar and his army would still have plenty more to feast on.

But with the amulet in his possession, well… that wasn’t a loose end Strickler could allow.

_To be chosen as Trollhunter at a time like this_ , Strickler mused, finishing his report and taking his leave, _what an unlucky fate._

 

* * *

 

 

Why did the Trollish alphabet have to be so hard to read?

Jim struggled with it for a few more minutes, before giving up and putting _A Brief Recapitulation_ aside. It was too early for this, and he needed to make himself breakfast anyway.

Decided, he headed downstairs, though not before snagging a different, more easily read book on the way. He had to take advantage of his free time while he had it, after all. It was becoming a rarer and rarer commodity these days.

His mom had left an hour or two ago, and had taken the lunch he’d made her the previous night, so he was comfortable making a meal of his choosing. After a brief consideration, he decided on blueberry pancakes with a side of eggs.

Breakfast made, he sat down, flicked open the history book to the last page he’d been on, and began to simultaneously eat and read. Some undetermined amount of time later, Toby arrived.

“Aw yeah, pancakes! Awesome-sauce!” Toby gleefully exclaimed the second he was through the door.

Jim didn’t even bother telling Toby to knock, as was his usual habit, most of his focus still on the book. “Morning, Tobes.”

“Morning, Chef Jim!” Toby replied, walking straight past him and to the kitchen, where a fluffy stack of blueberry pancakes awaited him in the warmth of the oven. “They smell amazing!”

“Thanks,” Jim said, not looking up. He paused only briefly to take another couple bites of his own breakfast. The chapter he was currently reading discussed humanity’s escape from the Gumm-Gumms, and the various voyages people took to reach safety in the Americas. Unfortunately, as exciting as the subject could’ve been, the words were as academically dry as he remembered them being.

Seriously, did the author want their readers to fall asleep while reading it?

Jim shook his head and pushed through the growing boredom. He could do this for Blinky.

“Where’s your mom at?”

Jim flipped a page. “She already left for work.” Which meant, unless she decided to pull a double shift—something that was more probable than Jim considered healthy, but then again who was he to talk—she’d be home that night. It’d be better if he went to Trollmarket early either way, so he didn’t have to worry about her panicking about him coming home late.

_Shouldn’t be too hard_ , he thought, _I don’t think I have any scavenging to do today…_

“Figured.” Toby pulled up a seat next to him, clearly eager to dig into his breakfast, only to pause. “Okay, seriously dude, what are you reading?”

Jim glanced up. “Remember that book we had to read about the war, back during school?”

“Yeah?”

Jim nodded. “That.”

“O-kay, who are you and what did you do with my friend?” Toby asked, craning his neck to glimpse the page Jim was currently reading. “Because I’m pretty sure you hated that book as much as I did. Why would you re-read it willingly?”

“I mean it’s—it’s not _that_ bad.” Jim protested, earning him a skeptical eyebrow raise from Toby. “Fine, some parts are still a little boring. But I’m not reading it for me, anyway.”

Toby squinted at him, clearly trying to puzzle out what he meant. Then his face lit up in realization. “Oh! Wait, are you doing this for Blinky?”

Jim shrugged, and nodded, going back to his simultaneous reading and eating. “Yep.”

“That’s really cool of you, dude.” Toby said, slicing into his stack of pancakes enthusiastically. “Blinky seems super interested in all that stuff. Oh my gosh, he’ll probably do that thing where he tries not to freak out about it, but you can totally tell he’s like, screaming internally in excitement!”

Jim nearly choked on a bite of pancake at the description. He coughed, and quickly chased it down with some water, desperately trying not to laugh and make it worse.

“You good?”

Jim cleared his throat, unable to suppress his smile. “Yeah, I’m sorry, that was just—very accurate.”

Toby sniggered, looking pleased. “I try.” His friend’s expression became thoughtful. “Serious question, though. Why not just let Blinky borrow the book? It’d be easier than reading through it yourself and trying to remember it all later.”

Jim had a response ready, but it promptly died in his throat, as he realized the very logical, solid reason he’d had for doing just that didn’t really apply anymore. Both he and Toby had agreed to start trusting Blinky and ARRRGH!!! with more information, and the book and all its contents—even the references to colonies and modern human life that Jim had planned on censoring—clearly fell into that category.

So that meant…

Jim stared blankly at the book’s pages for a moment, before pointedly closing it and pushing it aside. “Right. Good to know I’ve wasted my time with this.”

Toby shrugged. “It’s whatever, dude. I’m just glad we’re really going to trust them.”

“It’s not like we didn’t trust them before.” Jim pointed out.

“Yeah, but that was like a trial run. This is the real deal, no going back.” Toby said.

Jim mulled that over. “I guess you’re right.” Oddly enough, he wasn’t as worried about that as he thought he might be. “Okay. I’m probably going to head over to Trollmarket early today, since I don’t have any scavenging to do. You coming?”

“I wish. I’ve got an orthodontist appointment this morning.”

“Again?”

“One of my brackets came loose. It happens.” Toby poked at what Jim assumed to be the problematic bracket, before shrugging. “You gonna be okay on your own?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I think I’ve got the layout down there mostly figured out. And I can give Blinky the book while I’m there.” Jim assured.

“Sweet! Oh, did you hear about…”

They spent the rest of breakfast chatting absently about anything and everything.

 

* * *

 

 

Rumors. Blinky usually didn’t pay much mind to them, but lately he was finding them quite troublesome. He had hoped Trollmarket would’ve moved on by now, but Atlas “the Strange” continued to be newfound a favorite topic.

Some trolls liked him, some hated him, and plenty were undecided or just plain indifferent, but that wasn’t what had Blinky worried. Or maybe not so much worried, but cautious. Gossip would only be taken so seriously, after all. However, if enough of the right information was told to the right person, well…

He knew there were trolls around that were old enough to remember humankind and what they were like, though many had put them out of mind by now. All it would take was one. One troll to put the puzzle pieces together for the rest, and Master Jim’s lack of Trollish heritage could very well be revealed.

Blinky didn’t want that to happen, and not just because Master Jim insisted on secrecy. To be frank, he simply wasn’t sure how Trollmarket would react to the revelation. Their society was, admittedly, not the most welcoming when it came to outsiders, and Master Jim and Tobias most definitely fell into that category.

Blinky sighed as he considered the whole dilemma for the umpteenth time that morning. He was in his library, reorganizing one of his bookshelves as he often did when he needed to think. Familiar books passed through his hands and ended up in various stacks around him as he mulled it all over, hardly even needing to glance at the titles as he worked. He’d become well acquainted with his collection over the years, and was proud to say his mental catalogue of the library was on par with any written one, if not better.

That was hardly important, though. What was important was making sure that Master Jim’s act was perfected. They might not be able to do anything about the boy’s physical features, but Blinky could ensure an understanding of Trollish culture and language, given enough time. And the more troll-like Master Jim appeared to be, the better.

If only they had more time for lessons of such variety. Given Master Jim’s upcoming battle with Draal, Blinky had been putting most of his focus towards teaching their human Trollhunter to fight. Master Jim was progressing quickly, he could tell, even if he was usually exhausted by the end of each training session, but would it be enough? What would happen if Master Jim were to be felled during this battle?

The very thought left Blinky uneasy, and he mentally put it aside. That was a problem for another day.

“Uh… hello?” Master Jim’s voice broke through the otherwise silent library, and Blinky nearly dropped the books he’d been holding. He turned, and was quite surprised to find Master Jim standing hesitantly in the library’s entrance.

“Good morning, Master Jim!” Blinky called back, drawing the boy’s attention to him. It was still morning, wasn’t it? He couldn’t have been organizing books for that long. “Aren’t you here rather early? Or am I mistaken?”

“No, no, you’re right.” Master Jim stepped fully into the library, glancing around in an unsure manner. “I didn’t have any scavenging to do today, so I figured I might as well come here and… yeah.” He paused. “Unless I’m bugging you? If I am I can always leave and come back later, it’s fine—”

“Nonsense.” Blinky quickly assured with a wave of a hand; his upper right one, to be specific. “You’re always welcome here, Master Jim, I was merely surprised. Where is Tobias? He’s normally with you.” So much so lately that seeing one human without the other nearby was peculiar to him.

Blinky found himself amused by that. After all, it wasn’t too long ago that seeing even _one_ human would have been far more than peculiar. Things had certainly changed.

“He couldn’t make it today. Orthodontist appointment.” Master Jim said by way of explanation.

Which was a nice attempt, except it still failed to explain anything at all to Blinky. “I’m sorry? What is an ‘orthodontist?’”

“What is—oh, right.” Master Jim cocked his head to the side, thoughtful. “So you remember Toby’s braces, right?”

Blinky nodded, already thoroughly invested in the conversation and ready to commit this new, uniquely human thing to memory. The fact that humans were so particular about dental hygiene was both strange and intriguing to him. Though, to be fair, plenty of human things were.

“Okay, well an orthodontist is a person—though we only have the one person, I guess—who basically deals with braces and teeth and all that. Toby has to go in for check-ups sometimes to make sure everything’s going alright with them.” Master Jim paused, then shrugged. “There’s more to it than that, but I think that about sums it up.”

“I see.” Blinky disentangled himself from the maze of book stacks that had formed around him and headed for a nearby table. “Interesting. I’m curious though, what is the purpose of straightening teeth? Does it have any relation to health? Or is it for purely aesthetic purposes, or something else, perhaps?”

“…Both, I guess?” Master Jim said after a moment. “I know some people need to get braces for health reasons, but I guess people like the look of straight teeth too.”

“Do all humans get these braces then, at some point in their lives?”

“Not really. Usually only people who really need them get them these days, since we try not to waste too much metal—” Master Jim abruptly cut himself off, and Blinky had a sneaking suspicion that this conversation was beginning to verge into off-limits territory.

“There’s no need to continue.” Blinky assured. Though he was mildly disappointed that he wouldn’t get the chance to learn about human lifestyle, he’d respect Master Jim’s preference for caution. “I understand.”

Master Jim stared at him. Or at least, Blinky was fairly certain that’s what he was doing; it was hard to tell, given that Jim’s helmet was still on. Then, almost as abruptly as he had stopped, Jim started again. “It’s because metal’s in short supply these days. The people we normally get it from haven’t been coming down as often, because of the Gumm-Gumms and… yeah. That’s why.”

Blinky blinked, thrown by the sudden, stilted admittance.

Master Jim fidgeted awkwardly, before clearing his throat and muttering, “Sorry, that came out kind of weird.”

“Master Jim,” Blinky began slowly, “you know you don’t have to share any information you don’t wish to, I don’t mind—”

“I—I _know_ ,” Master Jim said, sounding a little strained, but somehow more confident in his decision, “but it’s fine. I wouldn’t say anything if I didn’t want to.” Jim took a breath, his helmet vanishing as he relaxed. “Which reminds me—how’s your English?”

Blinky was once again thrown for a loop. “I thought I spoke it quite well.”

Now it was Master Jim’s turn to be thrown. “Oh. Yeah, you do. That’s not what I meant, um—reading wise, how’s your English?”

“It… has been a while.” Blinky admitted thoughtfully. “But as long as your human alphabet hasn’t changed too much in the past couple of centuries, I should be able to recall it without too much trouble. Why do you—is that a book?”

While Blinky had been talking, Master Jim had dug through his bag and produced a book of decent size. It was nowhere near as old as some of the books Blinky had, but that hardly mattered. What mattered was the vaguely familiar, foreign script printed along the book’s front and spine.

That was a _human_ book.

“So you asked about the war.” Master Jim began, absently tapping his fingers on the book’s cover as he spoke. “And I was originally just going to read through this, and then tell you everything myself, cause there’s some stuff in here about humanity today that’s sort of important, but then I talked with Toby and—” Master Jim sighed and held out the book. “Long story short, this book talks about the history of the war and some other stuff, and I thought you might want to borrow it.”

Blinky stared at the book, his mind going completely and utterly blank.

“Uh… Blinky?” Master Jim said after several long seconds of stillness. “Are you okay?”

…Okay?

Was he okay?

What sort of question was that? To think of the opportunity he’d just been presented, all that knowledge literally within his reach! A whole new perspective on past events that most thought had vanished with humanity and—and he was going to learn of it, him! It was almost too good to be true!

Yes, he was much, much more than okay. He was absolutely fantastic! Oh, there were so many different books he’d have to grab for cross-referencing, and he’d absolutely need something to take notes with. What else? What else, what else…

Lost as he was in his impassioned thoughts, Blinky hardly noticed the huge grin steadily spreading across his face.

“Okay, seriously, did I break you or something?” Master Jim said, seeming torn between concern and amusement. “Hello? Blinky—WHOA!”

Jim was caught in a sudden, enthusiastic four-armed hug, which effectively cut off anything else he had to say. Not that Blinky would’ve noticed if he was speaking anyway, too focused on all the possibilities that now lay before him.

Beaming, he released the startled human. “Thank you, Master Jim! I just—I’m at a loss for words!” Which was a true rarity for him. “May I?”

Master Jim handed him the book, and Blinky eagerly flipped through it, though he was sure to be careful. Human books tended to be much more fragile than the thick, leather tomes designed for trolls. And though it had been a while since Blinky had last read one, he remembered that much quite clearly.

Oh, the things he would soon learn! The temptation to steal away and read the book in its entirety was strong, but he managed to resist, if barely. There’d be time for that later, some small part of his brain reminded him. Right now, there were still important matters he and Master Jim needed to discuss.

Even so, it took an astounding amount of willpower to close the book and set it aside. “Truly Master Jim, this is a wonderful gesture. I’ll return this book to you in perfect condition, you have my word.”

Master Jim smiled, “It’s no problem,” and then cringed slightly. “I should probably warn you though, there are some things in there about trolls that aren’t exactly…”

“Flattering?” Blinky finished, and Jim nodded, looking a guilty. “There’s no need to worry, I expected as much. Given what happened to humanity during that time, I’d be more surprised if this book were lacking in any negative views concerning troll kind.”

Jim relaxed. “Okay. And if you have any questions or anything, just ask me. I’ll try and explain whatever it is best I can.”

“Well, I will certainly hold you to that.” Blinky said, some of his excitement bubbling back to the surface. “Be warned, I will ask a lot of questions.”

Jim laughed. “Yeah, I kind of figured you would.”

“Very well, then.” Blinky’s mood sobered a little, as he remembered there were still important things they needed to discuss. “On the subject of learning, however: I believe we should increase your lessons on Trollish culture and language.”

Master Jim seemed surprised, and then reluctant. “What? Why? I can barely keep up with our regular schedule as it is.”

“You may change your mind once I tell you about the rumors.”

Master Jim’s shoulders went tense. “What rumors?” He asked, his unease clear.

“Nothing terrible!” Blinky quickly assured, not wanting Master Jim to panic. “As of yet, anyway. People merely view you as… unusual.”

“Like, in a bad way, or…”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that.” Blinky said, thinking of how to put it. “It’s concerning, is all. The last thing we need is someone jumping to all the right conclusions.” Jim nodded, but still seemed uncertain, so Blinky added, “They’ve taken to calling you Atlas ‘the Strange.’”

Master Jim frowned. “Okay. I see what you mean.” A pause. “But seriously, more lessons?”

“We want you to appear as troll-like as possible, and while there’s not much we can do about your overall stature, we can at least ensure that you act like a proper troll.” Blinky said sternly. “Which means understanding our culture, our mannerisms, and our language. All of which require—”

“More lessons.” Master Jim finished with a resigned sigh.

Blinky smiled. “Precisely.”

Master Jim scrubbed a hand over his face, already looking tired at the idea. He opened his mouth to speak, but paused, his expression shifting into something contemplative. “Hey, do you think we could add something else onto that?”

That wasn’t the response Blinky had been expecting. “Of course, but I didn’t think you’d appreciate the extra workload.”

“Yeah, well this should actually make things easier for me, if it goes right.” Master Jim said. “Monetary and bartering systems.”

Blinky was intrigued. “Certainly. May I ask why?”

“I’ve seen some of the stuff the vendors have here. If I can figure out how to buy and trade from them, instead of scavenging for everything in the forest, then it should at least free up a little time.” Master Jim shrugged. “It’s not a perfect plan. There are still some things I’d probably have to scavenge for, but I think it’ll help.”

“No, no, it’s an excellent idea!” Blinky said, already thinking of how best to teach such lessons. “We’ll want to start with your Trollish, though. You won’t be able to barter if you can’t understand the language you’re bartering in. We may also want to brush up on numbering systems… and include items of value in your lessons on culture…”

Blinky was muttering more to himself than his student at this point, who was listening to his plans with an peculiar expression of pained acceptance.

“So much for being done with school.” Jim commented offhand, more to himself than anything.

Still, it got Blinky to pause.

“I’ve been meaning to ask about that, actually.” Blinky said. “I’ve heard you mention schooling before, but what exactly have you studied?”

Master Jim shrugged. “Mostly basic stuff, honestly. Reading, writing, math, history, some first-aid… There’s more, but it’s all pretty general. We all get the same education until we’re around ten or eleven, before moving on to training for specific trades.”

“I see.” It was an interesting insight into human lifestyle, and—though Blinky wouldn’t voice this, in fear of making Master Jim uncomfortable—how many humans were around today. The way Master Jim had said “we” definitely implied that he had peers his age, who must’ve had parents, and people to teach them all those lessons…

The speculations hardly mattered. Master Jim would tell him if he wished to, and Blinky was content with that.

“A general education, followed by training through, I’m assuming, apprenticeships of some sort?” Jim nodded in confirmation. “And you went on to choose scavenging as your trade?”

“Pretty much.”

“Hmm. Such a young age to decide what you wish to do with the rest of your life. What if you wanted to change?” Blinky asked.

“…I guess I never really thought of it that way.” Jim admitted. “But there’s only so many of us, and that means being able to do our part as soon as we can. Which means deciding what that part _is_ as soon as we can, y’know?”

“Yes, when you put it that way, I suppose it does make sense.” Blinky agreed. “The rush of it all seems a shame, though.”

“It’s not _that_ bad, really,” Jim assured. “Some people have it worse. We’re seriously lucky to be where we are, and have what we have. We can even change apprenticeships, if we really want to, but it can be tricky.” Jim paused, before thoughtfully adding, “Heck, I’ve sort of changed mine, with all this Trollhunter stuff.”

Blinky perked up at that. “An interesting way of looking at it.” Blinky grinned, fetching a book off a nearby shelf as he playfully added, “Though I wouldn’t call you my apprentice. If that were the case, you’d end up a historian rather than a warrior. Not quite the right fit for you, I’d say, given your aversion to learning.”

“Wha—hey, it’s not like I’m _against_ learning new stuff.” Master Jim protested. “I’m just busy all the time! You try reading a bunch of giant books while scavenging, rehearsing for a play _and_ training to fight trolls. It’s not exactly easy.”

“Well, you’re hardly busy now,” Blinky pointed out good-naturedly, taking a seat at the table. “So would you like to learn some more Trollish?” He gestured to the empty seat next to him.

Master Jim hesitated, though Blinky could see he’d piqued the human’s interest. This was a particular skill Master Jim always seemed eager to refine, even if he was a bit shy about his current mastery of the language at times. “Are you sure? You seemed kind of busy when I came in here…”

“Oh, I was merely reorganizing a few shelves.” Blinky said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I wouldn’t offer if it was a problem. But be warned! We will be working on your past participles and that always promises to be grueling.”

That managed to get a laugh out of Jim. “Past participles, huh? How can I say no to that.” Master Jim took a seat, and then paused. “So is… anyone stopping by, today? Besides ARRRGH!!!, I mean.”

It didn’t take Blinky much to figure out why Jim was asking. After a moment of consideration, he said, “No, there shouldn’t be. You’re free to dismiss the armor.” Jim had explained to him once that, while the armor was unexpectedly comfortable, wearing it went it wasn’t needed was somewhat bothersome. Blinky didn’t fully understand it—most Trollhunters past would wear their armor for long periods of time without a single complaint—but in the end just chalked it up to another odd human thing.

Jim nodded and deactivated the armor. That settled, Blinky opened the book, and they began.

 

* * *

 

 

Draal was not happy.

Recently, he’d discovered from Vendel that his father had kept a small cache of weapons and supplies stored in the Upper City. All of which were his now, given his father’s…

He shoved away the harsh pang of grief before it could overwhelm him

The cache itself, though it did stir up some not-so-welcome feelings, was not what had put him in such a bad mood. It was what Vendel had told him afterwards that accomplished that, about the key to the building this cache was stored in and who had it, and who, as a result, he had to talk to to get it.

Blinky. He forgot sometimes that his animosity with the six-eyed troll was still a very new thing, and that not so long ago Blinky had been one of his father’s closest friends, along with ARRRGH!!!. As inconvenient as it now was, it made sense that Kanjigar would entrust the key to the scholar.

Draal scoffed, feeling irritated and betrayed, a combination that had grown increasingly common for him these days. His father was no doubt regretting his decision now that he was in the Void, watching all this madness descend. To think that Blinky and ARRRGH!!! would side with the new Trollhunter over Draal. Atlas, who was strange and suspicious and just plain unfit to bear the title he’d been given. Clearly, the two troll’s loyalty to his father, and in turn to _Draal_ , had died with Kanjigar.

It hurt more than Draal would ever admit, and he hated it. Hated that his greatest connection to his father was in the hands of another. Hated that two people he’d known since he was a whelp had betrayed him so, after such a horrible loss. Most of all, he hated the Trollhunter, who had brought all this about in the first place.

Sure, Atlas hadn’t killed his father, but as far as Draal was concerned, he was to blame for everything else. He didn’t understand it. Why would the amulet choose someone like Atlas to wield such a mantle? Atlas, who barely knew how to fight, who hadn’t even lasted a minute against Draal, who was just—just—

It was infuriating! Draal was angry and he felt he had every right to be. He’d been so certain that the amulet would choose him as his father’s successor. He’d spent almost his entire life training to uphold the mantle, and for what, this? Why? What made Atlas so special?

Or was Draal just… unworthy?

No. Draal dislodged the thought with a physical shake of his head. No, clearly a mistake had been made, nothing more. Mistakes had happened before—Unkar was proof of that—and it wouldn’t be long until this one was corrected. His and Atlas’s upcoming fight came to mind, and Draal smirked.

Yes, not long at all.

Originally, he’d been enraged by the audacity of the Trollhunter’s challenge, but then he realized all that the fight would bring. There was no way Atlas would be able to defeat him, Draal was sure of it. Which meant the Trollhunter would be felled and, more importantly, that the amulet would choose someone more worthy of the position. Someone like him.

It was a perfect opportunity, and Draal was going to take full advantage of it. It was hardly his fault that the Trollhunter had a death wish. Once Atlas was defeated, the amulet would move onto him, and everything would be as it should.

The thought satisfied him, and his anger subsided. Soon, everything would be righted again.

Soon, he’d be able to make his father proud.

First things first, though: Draal still had Blinky to deal with. He’d keep the interaction as short as possible, he decided. Ask for the key and leave.

…And maybe, _maybe_ , figure out just why the scholar had taken Atlas’s side over his while he was at it.

Yes, that was a good plan. After it was all over, he would probably go and train a little for his upcoming battle. As pathetic of an opponent Atlas would be, his father would hardly approve of him slacking.

He reached the library’s entrance, ready to initiate the plan, only to be momentarily derailed by the sound of voices. He paused outside, registering the first voice as Blinky’s, and the second as—Draal scowled.

Atlas. Of course.

They were probably working on the more academic aspect of the Trollhunter’s training, something Draal himself had never enjoyed but had tried to sit through anyways, back when he still thought he’d be his father’s successor. A shame whatever the Trollhunter was learning now would never get a true chance to be put to use.

Wait. Draal’s eyes narrowed, the conversation taking place really beginning to soak in. That didn’t sound like a history lesson. It sounded more like… small talk?

Draal strained to listen, and was steadily more confused by what he picked up. Blinky was speaking in Trollish, he noted, which wasn’t unusual. What _was_ unusual was that his words and sentences were relatively simple. Blinky didn’t do simple; he had an expansive vocabulary in every language he knew and it showed.

There was a mild lull in the conversation once Blinky stopped speaking. Draal could only wonder why, and then Atlas responded.

And his Trollish was awful.

Okay, to be fair, Draal could understand what he was trying to say. However, that didn’t changed the fact that half of his words weren’t pronounced quite right, and that he continuously stumbled through seemingly easy sentences without any obvious reason. All of Draal’s previous irritation and anticipation faded as he puzzled over this unexpected discovery. If he didn’t know any better, it almost seemed like—

“Ah, that was in the present tense.” Blinky suddenly interrupted, switching to English. “Though your pronunciation wasn’t bad, you need to conjugate in the past tense, remember?”

“Right, right,” Atlas agreed, sounding self-admonishing. “Sorry, I’ll work on that.”

“Don’t be discouraged, you’ve been doing quite well.” Blinky assured. “Trollish is a complex language, so the fact that you’ve come this far mostly on your own is impressive. There are just a few habits we need to break you of.”

Atlas responded with a small laugh. “Yeah, I guess listening to street vendors isn’t the best way to pick up proper sentence structure.” A sigh. “Okay, so then…” Atlas went back to his stumbling Trollish. (This time with the correct tense.)

Of all the things Draal had been expecting, this was not one of them. Was Blinky teaching Atlas Trollish? It didn’t make any sense. What troll didn’t know how to speak Trollish?

The revelation almost troubled him. He’d known the Trollhunter was unusual, but not to this extent. Not once in his life had he heard of a troll that wasn’t raised speaking Trollish; a troll not speaking English, certainly, but never Trollish. It was the birth language of their kind, after all.

So why was Atlas the exception?

Suddenly, Draal couldn’t stand just standing there and listening anymore. He wanted answers, so he’d get them. “Blinky!”

He marched inside, only briefly pausing at the startled yelp he heard upon entering. He turned, and was greeted by a frantic Blinky, and a blurred, Atlas shaped figure dropping behind a table, out of sight.

“Draal!” Blinky exclaimed, shooting to his feet. “Would you kindly _not_ barge into my library without notice!”

Draal was momentarily taken aback by the scolding, but quickly shook it off as he really took in the scene before him. The Trollhunter had yet to make a reappearance, and Draal had a sneaking suspicion as to why. One that proved to be correct when he spotted the amulet sitting inactivated on the table.

Draal stared at it, and then at Blinky.

Blinky glanced at the amulet, his expression terse. Then, in a completely failed attempt at subtlety, swept the sacred artifact off the edge of the table with one of his lower arms. There was a light ‘CLACK’ as it connected with something out of sight.

_“Ow.”_ Came Atlas’s annoyed hiss shortly after.

Draal raised his eyebrows.

“What do you need, Draal?” The scholar asked impatiently, as if… _that_ hadn’t just taken place.

Draal ignored the question, instead trying to catch a glimpse under the table. “Why is the Trollhunter on the ground?”

Blinky blocked his line of sight. “Hasn’t anyone told you its rude to answer a question with a question?”

Before Draal could refute that, there was a familiar flash of light. “Just dropped a book!” Atlas replied, popping back up, the armor activated and a book in hand. The Trollhunter laughed, and it was an anxious sound. “Hey Draal, what’s up, how’s it going?”

Draal glanced between Blinky and the Trollhunter, wondering if they thought him to be some sort of idiot, or if they truly believed they were being subtle. His eyes narrowed. “What is going on here?”

“Well it was a history lesson, before you interrupted it.” Blinky replied promptly. Another lie. “But we were just about finished anyways, isn’t that right, Master Atlas?”

“Haha, yeah, cause I have that… thing.” The Trollhunter agreed lamely. “So I should probably get going now, before I’m late.” In a flash, the Trollhunter snatched up his bag and headed for the door. “See you later Blinky!”

“Yes, same to you, Master Atlas!” Blinky agreed.

Atlas slowed as he realized Draal was blocking his path, and, after a moment of hesitation, very carefully edged around the troll. “And, uh, I guess I’ll see you around too, Draal.”

Draal watched him leave, not bothering to hide his suspicion. “I believe you will.”

The Trollhunter stopped just by the exit, uncertain. “Right.” He cast one last glance at what Draal assumed was Blinky, and then was gone.

For a long moment, neither Blinky nor Draal said a word.

Blinky cleared his throat. “Well then—”

“That rumor, about no one having seen the Trollhunter’s face,” Draal began, cutting Blinky off, “it’s not true, is it? You’ve seen it. ARRRGH!!! too, I’d wager.”

Blinky shifted, uncomfortable. “I wouldn’t say that—”

“You’re lying.” Draal said, his tone sharp and openly accusing. He turned to fully face Blinky. “You keep lying, straight to my face. Why? What are you hiding? What is _he_ ,” Draal pointed at the exit the Trollhunter had disappeared out of, “trying to hide?”

Blinky struggled with what to say, before releasing a resigned sigh, “It is not my place to say, Draal.”

Draal scoffed. “Of course! You’ve taken his side this entire time, Deya knows I should not have expected any different now.”

“I am not taking anyone’s side!” Blinky protested, aghast at the insinuation. “What I am trying to do is what’s best for everyone, and I don’t know when you drew this conclusion, or why—”

“Bushigal!” Draal snarled, his anger bubbling up to the surface. “There is something going on here and you are simply refusing to tell me, you and ARRRGH!!! And for what, him? That mistake of a Trollhunter!”

Blinky’s expression hardened. “Do not speak of Master Atlas that way. He did not wish for this responsibility, but he is taking to it best he can. Though it certainly doesn’t help that you’ve been making things difficult by acting like nothing more than a jealous whelp!”

Draal glowered. “At least I’m not the one who turned their back on my father now that he’s—”

“I HAVE DONE _NO_ SUCH THING!” Blinky bellowed, all six eyes blazing. “I understand this loss has been difficult for you, but you are not the only one who has grieved Kanjigar! And frankly I am offended you would suggest otherwise!” It was rare that Blinky got angry, but that had been the final straw. “Look at what you’re doing, Draal, do you think that your father would approve of this—”

**“DO NOT LECTURE ME ON WHAT MY FATHER WOULD AND WOULD NOT APPROVE OF!”**

Silence. Both trolls stared each other down, equally riled.

Finally, Blinky’s face softened a little. “Draal—”

No. He was done listening to this. Without another word, Draal turned around and stormed out of the library, seething.

If Blinky wasn’t going to give him answers, then he’d just have to pry them directly from their source.


	14. Chapter 14

Had Draal seen anything?

Jim hurried through the streets of Trollmarket, glad his helmet hid his uneasy expression from the trolls around him. A few trolls nodded to him as he passed, out of some form of obligatory respect, maybe—though there were just as many who shot him looks of judging looks—and Jim absently returned the gestures.

He tried not to let his frantic thoughts distract him and get him lost, but it was difficult. That had been way too close for comfort. But there was no way Draal could’ve seen anything, right? He would’ve _reacted_ somehow, not just cast suspicious glances Jim’s way like he always did.

Jim took a shaky breath, reanalyzing the situation over and over again in his head. Every expression. Every word spoken. Nothing pointed to Draal figuring it out, but he still had this nagging feeling something was wrong, that he wasn’t quite out of the woods yet. It’d probably be safer if he just… went home and laid low for the rest of the day.

Yeah, that was a good idea. A smart, safe idea. He’d give Draal the day to forget about the whole encounter, and then come back with Toby tomorrow to train, and everything would be fine.

And even if Draal didn’t entirely forget about the encounter, everyone already thought he was weird, didn’t they? So Draal would probably just chalk it all up to another strange thing to support “Atlas’s” title. It wasn’t exactly great—Jim was trying to blend in after all—but it was more reassuring than anything else he’d thought of so far.

Yep, just Atlas the Strange, being strange. Nothing unusual there. Maybe Draal would just let it go, and not… not _follow_ _him_ through Trollmarket or something, which, oh god, was apparently a thing that was _happening—_

So deep in thought, he hadn’t even noticed Draal’s angry figure closing in behind him. Not until he realized just how often he seemed to be catching an all to familiar shade of blue in the corner of his eye. For one stupid moment, he found himself slowing, as he glanced back and wondered, heart in his throat, if he was mistaken. Draal could just… be coincidentally going the exact same way as him, couldn’t he?

The hope was immediately dashed when Draal met his backwards glance with a threatening glower. Crap.

Jim broke into a run, not even caring about the weird looks that got sent his way, because it was clear Draal was doing more than just following him: he was looking for a _confrontation_. But nope, Jim had been there, done that, and he was not planning on doing it again until their upcoming fight.

What the heck had Jim done to set Draal off this time, anyway? Unless…

Jim suddenly felt sick. What if Draal did see something in the library? What if he actually had figured out that Jim was human, and pretended not to so he could—could get Jim alone and—

And what? Jim wasn’t sure. Maybe he was overreacting and there was a perfectly logical explanation as to why Draal was pursuing him. Maybe there wasn’t. Either way, Jim wasn’t about to stick around and find out.

For once, he was glad for his comparably small stature, as it allowed him to weave through milling crowds much faster than Draal could ever manage. He might have even been able to ditch him entirely, if it weren’t for the armor. Not for the first time, he cursed its inherent flashiness. He’d just have to outpace Draal.

Easier said than done; Draal seemed very determined not to lose him. Not to mention…

Jim cringed. The stairs. He’d need to get up the stairs to reach the Upper City, but they’d be almost completely clear of trolls. Already he could see the stretch of stairs that would take him up to the Crystal Staircase, dangerously empty.

He considered his options. He could stay down here, and keep working the crowds to his advantage, but no, that wouldn’t last. He still didn’t know Trollmarket’s layout in its entirety, and could end up lost. Draal, on the other hand, wouldn’t have that issue, and would continue to track him with the armor as an oh-so-helpful beacon.

And ditching his disguise down here was definitely _not_ an option.

In the Upper City though, he’d have a chance. He knew the layout up there, and, if he could escape Draal’s sight, he might be able to make it to the safety of the rooftops. It was his best chance. If only it didn’t rely on his ability to outrun a troll.

Not like he had much of a choice though. He began to speed up, pressing his lead while he still had it.

“Trollhunter!” Draal warned, noticing the increased pace.

Jim glanced back only once, just as he was clearing the crowd. He glimpsed Draal attempting to muscle his way the crowd, much to the offense of the trolls around him. His facial expression was a clear warning as he did so: run and you’ll make this worse on yourself.

So obviously, Jim turned and ran.

He took the first set of stairs two at a time. He nearly tripped a couple of times in his haste, but by some miracle managed not to topple back down the stairs. He reached the top in record time, already panting from the sudden exertion but not slowing in the slightest.

He continued to the Crystal Staircase at a dead sprint, frantically trying to dig the Horngazel out of his bag while he was at it. Something he successfully managed by the time he reached the bottom of the Crystal Staircase, which was good! Meanwhile, Draal’s furious orders for him to stop were getting closer, which wasn’t so good.

_GO, GO, GO!_ He practically screamed the mantra in his head. Three quarters of the way up the Crystal Staircase, he heard someone else’s feet connect with the crystal. Draal was gaining. This was going to be close.

He cleared the top of the Crystal Staircase so fast he skidded across the ground and nearly crashed into a wall. He pushed off the wall last second instead and used it to propel him towards his would-be exit.

“C’mon, c’mon!” He breathed, carving out a messy arch with the Horngazel. Draal reached the top of the staircase just as Jim slammed his hand into the center of the arch.

The portal opened and Jim was off like a shot, nearly bowling over a troll who’d had the misfortune of being right outside the freshly made doorway. “Sorry!” Jim called back to the bewildered bystander, though he was glad for the momentary distraction the troll would provi—

Jim winced as Draal plowed right through the troll. Never mind then. No distraction provided.

That was fine, Jim could work with this. He’d taken care of the hard part, now all he had to do was ditch Draal, if only for a minute. Already he was mapping out the most convoluted, hard to follow path he could. The sunny rooftops would ensure his escape; he just had to reach them.

“This is useless, Trollhunter!” Draal called behind him. “What are you trying to hide?”

Maybe the adrenaline was messing with his head or something, because he found himself shouting back. “Just leave me alone! What the heck did I ever do to you!”

If Draal replied, he didn’t hear. Jim was much too busy vaulting over the cart of an unsuspecting vendor, just trying to set up shop for the day. The vendor jolted in surprise, and Jim yelled a quick “Excuse me, sorry!” as he landed on the other side and kept running.

_Hey, that was actually pretty cool,_ some fleeting part of him thought. Training must’ve been paying off.

_FOCUS_ , the rest of him screamed, _ANGRY TROLL CHASING YOU, GET AWAY ALREADY!_

Neither of which were helpful thoughts, so he shoved them down and focused on where he needed to go. Behind him, Draal pushed past the vendor with much less courtesy than Jim had.

Right here, left there—the streets were becoming thinner and less populated as he distanced himself from the city’s center. He needed to pull off his escape and soon. His muscles were aching from exertion, and the weight of the armor was certainly no help; if he kept this up much longer, he might just end up collapsing.

Luckily, he was coming up on his escape route.

He took his next few turns as sharply as he could, putting on one last burst of speed to ensure he’d be out of Draal’s sight for a brief, but incredibly precious window of time. He slid into a familiar alley, one that, to a troll, appeared to be a dead end. To Jim, though, it was the perfect path to safety.

Built into one of the buildings’ walls was a ladder. This ladder was an access point to the rooftops that trolls used—all during the safety of night, of course—when they needed to repair sunshades. And while Jim had other ways to get to the rooftops, this was one of the fastest, and fast was what he desperately needed right then.

Knowing it was only a matter of moments until Draal caught up with him, he leaped onto the ladder and _climbed_.

Just as he was pulling himself on top of the sturdy, wooden canopy that sheltered the alley, he heard footsteps. With a cringe, he scrambled the rest of the way up, nearly face planting in his haste. He hardly cared.

“Trollhunter!” Draal yelled below.

Jim froze.

 

* * *

 

 

Draal rounded the corner, a victorious grin already on his face. This was a dead-end. He had the Trollhunter for sure now.

Except the alley was empty.

His grin began to fade as he glanced around, trying to catch a familiar flash of silver and blue. Nothing. He frowned, his eyes narrowing.

“Trollhunter!” He called, slowly stalking down the alley. He checked each potential hiding spot as he went—though there weren’t many—and his frown deepened as each one turned up empty. “You can’t hide here! Quit this cowardice and face me!”

He reached the end of the alley. Atlas was still nowhere to be found.

Draal growled in confusion and frustration. He had seen Atlas go down this way, he was certain of it!

“Trollhunter!” Numerous seconds passed. No response.

It was as if Atlas had vanished.

Eventually, Draal was forced to give up, though it was a grudging thing, and he left with more suspicions about the Trollhunter than ever before. He glared down the empty street one last time; a silent promise to himself that this wasn’t over.

(Being the troll that he was, not once did Draal consider that the “troll” he’d been after was right above him the entire time, watching in tense silence as he left.)

 

* * *

 

 

Jim went straight home after the whole Draal incident, as planned.

Toby was waiting for him when he got back. "Hey dude, you're back early. What'd I miss?"

"Draal almost saw me without the armor and then he chased me through like, half of Trollmarket and I am _freaking out, Tobes!_ ”

"Oh cool—wait, _what_?"

 

* * *

 

 

_Later that night…_

As expected, traders had begun arriving at the colony that day. This should’ve been a good thing; another few pieces of the bridge would be brought in with them, and they’d be that much closer to their goal.

Or that’s how it should’ve been, at least. Strickler had failed to account for just how _incompetent_ some of his subordinates could be.

“What do you mean there’s been ‘complications?’” Strickler said, his voice taking on a dangerous edge. They were at his bunker, a place he often lent out to traders who didn’t have access to the colony. To an outsider, it seemed like he was providing “fellow humans” a safe place to stay for a couple of nights. And while that was an unintended side-effect, it also provided an excellent cover for these sorts of dealings.

The changeling in front of him fidgeted nervously. “I—there was an incident, sir. The traders I’ve been travelling with encountered another convoy, and there was a supply mix-up—”

“I’m not interested in your excuses.” Strickler said, his voice cold. “You lost a bridge piece. You’re lucky I don’t hand you over to Bular.”

“That won’t be necessary!” The subordinate quickly assured, a glint of panic in his eyes. “The other convoy was headed this way as well. They probably even arrived tonight! I hid the bridge piece well, if you allow me into Arcadia, I should be able to retrieve it—”

Strickler laughed humorlessly. “Should. What you ‘should’ have been able to do was keep track of it in the first place.” He took a breath. “No matter. I will send the goblins to retrieve it. You’ve done enough as it is.”

The subordinate nodded, resigned; the threat of Bular hanging over his head was no doubt enough to keep him from arguing. “Of course, sir.”

“You better hope the humans haven’t discovered it.” Strickler warned. “I will not be the one to face Bular’s wrath, should our mission be compromised due to this idiotic mistake. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.” He said, with a sharp sense of finality. “Get back to your post, then. The last thing we need is anyone getting suspicious now.”

The subordinate nodded and left.

Strickler sighed, trying to ward off an oncoming headache. Honestly, the things he had to deal with these days. Half of his subordinates were overly devoted imbeciles, while the rest were competent but just as likely to stab him in the back, given the chance.

Pale Lady help him, he doubted anyone else had to put up with so much nonsense…

 

* * *

 

 

Vendel was much too old to be dealing with this nonsense.

“Draal, I’m not exactly… pleased with the amulet’s choice either.” He said, shooting the blue troll a skeptical look. “But chasing him through half of Trollmarket and the Upper City? That’s a bit much, even for you.”

Draal glared at a wall, a familiar expression of stubbornness on his face that reminded Vendel far too much of Kanjigar. “And what is that supposed to mean?” Draal groused.

Vendel shook his head, swatting Draal with his staff as he passed. “Do not give me that, Draal, you know very well what I mean.” He said sternly, ignoring Draal’s aggravated grumbling at the hit. “Now, are you going to give me an explanation or are you just going to sit there sulking?”

“I do not _sulk_.”

“Whatever you say.”

Draal shot him a mild glare, but didn’t speak, clearly deep in thought.

Vendel waited expectantly.

“Have you ever… seen the Trollhunter?” Draal asked carefully.

Vendel’s eyebrows went up. Ah. So that was it, then. Well, if it hadn’t been before, this conversation certainly promised to be interesting now. “Why yes, just several hours ago I saw him running like a Nyarlagroth was on his heels. But I’m sure that’s not what you mean.”

“You’ve heard the rumors, Vendel.” Draal not-quite-snarled. “His face. Not one troll I know of knows what he looks like beneath the armor.” Draal scowled. “Well, except for _them_ , of course.”

“By ‘them,’ I assume you mean ARRRGH!!! and Blinkous?”

Draal’s scowl deepened, but he otherwise didn’t say anything.

“Hm. As I thought.” Vendel mused. “Just what happened, Draal?”

“They’re hiding something.” Draal told him fiercely.

“Yes, well Blinkous often is.” Vendel pointed out. “You know how he can be about his conspiracies. Honestly, I’m just glad he’s been too busy training Atlas to bother so much these days.”

“But it’s not just him!” Draal protested. “Blinky’s in on it, but it’s the Trollhunter who’s at the center of it all. They call him Atlas ‘the Strange,’ doesn’t that say something?”

This wasn’t news to Vendel. He was well aware of the rumors surrounding their new Trollhunter, but hadn’t seen any reason to give them much credit yet. Though he’d admit, most of the gossip wasn’t unfounded. “I don’t deny that he’s of an unusual sort, Draal, but I still fail to understand why you felt the need to chase him all around Trollmarket.”

“I wanted answers.” Draal said tersely. “It’s hardly my fault that the Trollhunter was too cowardly to provide them.”

Vendel considered him for a moment. “I suppose not,” he finally said, “though I doubt a little more tact would’ve hurt.”

Draal made a face. “Bah! As if that would’ve made a difference. There is something wrong here, Vendel, I know it! A person does not keep secrets like his for no reason!”

“Yes, well as true as that may be—”

“You don’t understand!” Draal interrupted, too Vendel’s mild annoyance. However, the irritation faded at Draal’s next words. “Vendel, I don’t think he speaks Trollish.”

Vendel blinked, surprised. “And just where did you hear that?”

“I didn’t.” Draal said, “I walked in on Blinky teaching him, and outside of that, I’ve only ever heard him speak English. That’s more than just _unusual_ , Vendel, that’s—it’s—”

Troubling, if it turned out to be true. But Vendel wasn’t about to jump to any conclusions yet. “Are you certain?”

“Of course!”

“And this is why you felt the need to chase him down in search of answers?” Vendel asked. “It is certainly a disquieting            possibility, but it still seems a bit much. Did something else happen?”

Draal went quiet, glowering off to the side. Finally, he said, “Nothing of importance.”

Vendel scrutinized him, before deciding it wasn’t worth it to continue with that particular line of questioning. “Very well,” he said, “I can understand your concern. If it makes you feel better, I will discuss this matter with Blinkous when I have the chance.”

“You think he’s going to tell you anything?” Draal snapped with unexpected venom, surprising the older troll.

Vendel’s eyes narrowed. “I am not the enemy here, Draal. Do not treat me as such.”

Draal’s eyes widened minutely, and he glanced away, seeming to realize his error. “Of course. My… apologies,” he ground out.

Vendel shook his head, praying to Deya for patience. “Keep on this path, Draal, and you’ll end up as much a conspiracy theorist as Blinkous.”

The warning had its desired effect, if Draal’s appalled expression was anything to go by. “I will _not_.”

“Then stop bothering yourself with pointless enigmas!” Vendel said, with a pointed gesture of his staff. “The day of your battle with the Trollhunter is fast approaching, is it not?”

Draal nodded grudgingly.

“Well, there you are. We both know how Blinkous’s last trainee fared in battle, and he was a far more proper troll than Atlas. Our ‘Trollhunter’ shouldn’t be a source of concern for you much longer.” It wasn’t something that Vendel felt any particular way about, merely a fact. “I, for one, don’t plan on wasting excess energy looking into him when I have far more important things to worry about.”

Draal frowned, mulling that over. “Yes, I… suppose you are right,” he admitted. Still, there was a reluctance in his tone, and that same stubbornness in his eyes. Draal may be acknowledging his advice, but Vendel had a strong feeling he wasn’t going to heed it.

For whatever reason, Draal wasn’t willing to let this go.

“Merlin help us, _fine._ ” Vendel said, turning his back to Draal. “Look into the Trollhunter if you must. But I better not hear any more complaints about you plowing through unsuspecting market-goers, do you understand? Else it is your hide I’ll be after!”

When he next glanced at Draal, the younger troll had perked up slightly, and there was a dangerously contemplative glint in his eyes. “I think I can manage a little more… tact, as you suggested.” Draal said. “Thank you, Vendel. I’ll tell you if I discover anything of importance.”

“Yes, yes, be off then,” Vendel replied with a dismissive wave, “I have other things to do.” Draal nodded, and took his leave.

Vendel attempted to move on to something else, but whether he liked it or not, the conversation got him _thinking_. Eventually, he gave up on making progress on anything else, and took some time to reconsider a few of the rumors that had been going around. Out of everything, what Draal had told him about Atlas not speaking Trollish stuck out the most.

_What troll doesn’t speak Trollish…_ He wondered, eyes narrowing thoughtfully.

Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to look into a couple of things, after all.


	15. Chapter 15

It was early morning. Near the outskirts of the colony, there was a clearing where all the traders that had arrived the day prior had parked their carts and supplies. The traders themselves slept in and around them. They would arise soon, in preparation for the long day of bartering that was to come, but right then they remained completely oblivious to the invasion of their makeshift camp.

From the shadows, four small, strange figures emerged, chattering quietly in a gibberish language. Goblins. They darted between the carts, only just careful enough to avoid waking the sleeping humans around them.

After a few minutes of searching, they came upon the cart they’d been looking for. One of the small figures pointed at it, grinning victoriously. The four converged upon the cart, sifting through the goods stored on it with as much stealth as four goblins could manage.

One found a piece of dark chalk and, with a laugh, used it to draw a handlebar mustache on its face. It showed off its accomplishment to the others, but they weren’t as impressed. They quickly returned to the search.

Finally, they found the box they were looking for. They chattered at each other, pleased, and proceeded to haul their find off the cart. However, the one with the mustache drawn on its face didn’t follow, still poking through the cart’s contents.

Of course it was then that one of the owners of the cart, who had stirred a few minutes earlier, came to check on its contents. The goblins, hearing the man’s approaching footsteps, all dove into hiding. The one on the cart, unable to join the others, ended up taking cover behind some of the boxes.

The man tiredly looked over the cart’s contents, before nodding to himself and shouting. “We’re good!”

“Excellent!” Came another man’s reply. “Let’s move to a better spot then; we won’t make any trades if we’re all the way back here!”

The man answered in affirmative and went back around to the front of the cart.

Slowly, the goblins on the ground came out of hiding, looking up at the cart, where the fourth member of the group resided. A few moments later, the missing goblin appeared, looking pleased that it hadn’t been caught.

Then the cart jerked, and the goblin was knocked out of it and onto the ground. Just in time for it to get run over by one of the cart’s wheels.

The three goblins stared at their felled brother with horror, all while the cart that had ended him obliviously rolled away.

One of the goblins stepped forward, picking up the chalk that had fallen from the felled one’s hand. All three of their faces contorted with anger, as the one goblin used the chalk to draw the exact same mustache on its face.

“Waka chaka!” The new leader declared, echoed by the two behind him. “WAKA CHAKA!”

 

* * *

 

 

_Nobody should be up this early_ , Toby thought, as he trudged behind his nana. Ugh, his brain felt like mush. Why was he here again? More importantly, how was his nana such a morning person?

“Hurry, dear! We have to get there early if we want first pick of everything!” His nana told him cheerily, bustling along as if the sun wasn’t just starting to color the horizon.

Even with his new gig as a scavenger in training—and also kind of the Trollhunter’s sidekick in training—he still had to help his nana out from time to time. Mostly with market trips, these days, so he could carry whatever she saw fit to buy. Though they weren’t going on just any old market trip, that day.

Traders were in town. Traders hadn’t come to the colony in like, forever. Well, more like in three months, but the point still stood. Arcadia was a pretty self-sufficient colony, but it was always nice to have new options available. Plus the traders almost always had cool stories to tell.

Still, cool stories and supplies or not, was it _really_ worth it to be up this early?

Apparently, since they were walking right alongside some other people who had the same idea. Not too many, but enough to be noticeable.

“I’m going as fast as I can, nana.” He replied, rubbing his eye tiredly. “I’m like, still half asleep, cut me some slack.”

“Oh, come now, Toby-pie, you get up early all the time for your new scavenging job!” Nana pointed out good-naturedly.

“Not this early.” Toby said. Even Jim wasn’t that crazy.

If his nana heard that response, she didn’t acknowledge it. Instead, she said, “Look, Toby-pie, we’re almost there! Oh, I’m so excited. I wonder what they’ll have…”

Toby nodded politely along as his nana chatted about the different seeds she could use, and the different sweets they might’ve brought. Mostly, he scoped out the scene before him, the various carts loaded with goods, and the traders setting up for the day. A few had already spread blankets out to display their wares.

Hm. Not as many traders as he’d hoped for, honestly. But more would probably show up over the next couple of days, so he wasn’t too bummed about it.

They ended up stopping at a cart near the front, where a couple of traders had already finished their set-up. Nana ooed and awed at their wares, and then asked if they had any seeds available. One nodded and went to fetch some of their supply.

Knowing this might take a while, Toby decided to indulge in his growing curiosity. Now that he’d (mostly) woken up, the things around him were starting to look very interesting. Not as interesting as the stuff sold down in Trollmarket—though he doubted anything could beat _that,_ like seriously, he’d seen stalls selling real-deal magic stuff _—_ but good enough.

“Hey, I think I’m gonna explore, nana. Call me when you need me, okay?” He told her.

“Of course, go on ahead, then!”

Nodding, Toby did, eagerly flitting from stall to stall to see everything they might have. If Jim were with him, he’d probably tell him to slow down and actually _look_ at things, but whatever. He wasn’t trying to buy anything, anyways. Not yet at least.

Somewhere near the edge of the whole encampment, Toby slowed, his attention drawn in by a few exotic looking items. This turned out to be a very good thing, because it allowed him to notice a very strange green… puddle of goop? Well, whatever it was, it was near some bushes, just enough out of the way that no one else seemed to have noticed it yet.

Which was also a very good thing, as Toby would later realize.

He glanced around, before slowly edging his way over to the green goop. The few traders that had had the misfortune of getting a spot this far back from the main populace hardly paid him any mind, too busy setting up, and beyond them there weren’t really any other people around.

He reached the puddle of grossness, and proceeded to stare down at it in confusion.

“What is this?” He muttered to himself, picking up a nearby stick and using it to poke at the mess. He nearly screeched when his poking revealed an eyeball in the mix. “What the—oh no.”

Other mashed up body parts became obvious to him: half of a spindly leg, an ear, a few tufts of fur, some teeth. It took him a second, but he realized, slowly and with growing dread, just what this creature was.

Or what the creature had been before the whole… dead thing.

“Goblin.” He whispered in horror. “But what—how—”

This encampment was inside the colony’s borders. There shouldn’t _be_ any goblins in the colony. But here was a goblin, albeit a dead goblin, _in the colony._

Had it somehow hitched a ride in with the traders? No, the guards checked the carts for that sort of thing before they wheeled them in, there was no way. So how the heck did it get in?

“Oh, this isn’t good.” He muttered to himself, frantically glancing around to see if anyone else had noticed the dead goblin yet. It didn’t seem like it. “This is really, really bad, what do I do, uh—stick!” He grabbed another stick, and then used his two sticks to sort of… scoop up the dead goblin. Goo dripped in slimy strings as he moved it; an eyeball dropped from the mix and rolled across the ground. “Ew, gross, gross, _gross_ …”

With little ceremony, he dumped the slimy, green carcass into one of the nearby bushes, throwing the sticks in after it. Then, with a cringe, he kicked the stray eyeball into the same bush.

“The things I do for you, Jimbo…” He muttered, furiously rubbing the toe of his boot into the grass. No slimy goblin guts on his shoes, nope. Then it hit him. “Jim! Gotta tell Jim, this is definitely Trollhunter-y business—”

“Toby-pie!”

Toby froze. He’d forgotten about nana.

After a moment of hesitation, he hurried back over to her. “Uh, hey nana, something came up and—”

“Be a dear and carry these for me,” she interrupted, oblivious to his internal panic. Toby, with little other choice, accepted the small armful of supplies. “Now, on to the next cart!”

Toby was at a loss of what to do. “Actually, nana I—”

“Now, Toby-pie, lets not dawdle!” His nana said, moving to the next cart without a care in the world. “We’ve still got so much to look at!”

Toby quickly realized he was stuck. There was no way he was going to get away long enough to tell Jim about the goblin, not then. With a cringe, he decided he’d just have to wait.

He and Jim could afford deal with this later, he assured himself. It was just one dead goblin, after all.

…Right?

 

* * *

 

 

When Jim walked into rehearsal that day, he walked in with a mission.

Since the whole “Steve becoming understudy” fiasco, Claire hadn’t spoken with him much outside of what was entirely necessary. He’d talked the problem over with Toby the day prior—after a very long freak out about the Draal issue—and his friend agreed that the only way to fix things with Claire was to talk to her, face to face.

Which was… unfortunately easier said than done, once you threw Steve into the equation.

Almost as if he sensed Jim’s intent, Steve was sure to swoop in and occupy whatever spare moment Claire had. Once, when he’d caught Jim glaring at him after one such maneuver, Steve had sneered back and mimed making out with Claire—all when she wasn’t looking, of course.

Suffice to say it was mildly infuriating.

But finally, _finally,_ as rehearsal began to near its end, Jim got his chance. Ms. Janeth had pulled Steve aside for some play/understudy related reason, and Claire was taking a brief break between scenes.

Right. This was it.

More nervous than he really ought to be, considering how easy something like this should seem after the events of yesterday, he forced himself to walk over to where she was sitting. He tried to keep Toby’s words of encouragement at the forefront of his mind, and ignore the nonsensical panic that was blooming just beneath the surface, telling him to stop, _now_ , she probably hates you, this is a horrible idea—

“Uh, hi Claire.” He greeted with a semi-awkward smile and a surprising degree of calmness.

“Oh.” Claire blinked in surprise. “Hey.”

Well. She didn’t seem angry and/or disgusted by his very presence, so that was a good sign.

Then he remembered, crap, he had to say something else now, since he’d been the one to approach her and all. “That—um. That last scene you did!” He finally settled on. “You were really great.”

Claire smiled almost shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Thank you. I think it fell a little flat near the end though.”

“No, no, you were amazing!” Jim assured, carefully taking a seat next to her, sensing that she might just be willing to talk with him after all. “All your scenes are amazing, really. You’re like, the only one who actually looks like they know what they’re doing.”

“Aw. Thanks.” She said, glancing at him before adding, “You’re not so bad yourself.”

Jim smiled, and this time it was a little less awkward than before. “Thanks.”

Claire nodded.

They were both silent.

“So,” Jim began, before he could lose his nerve, “I—I just want to say I’m sorry. For being a flake and not showing up to rehearsals. There’s been some other stuff going on and—yeah.” He scratched nervously at the back of his neck. Probably better not to say too much about Trollhunter stuff. “It’s not an excuse. And I should probably just cut myself off now, before I start rambling…”

Claire giggled lightly. Jim glanced at her, hoping that was a good thing.

For a moment, she considered him. “I get it.” She finally said, with a sort of resigned shrug. “Sometimes I barely have time to rehearse, with everything going on with my apprenticeship. And I’ve been doing these plays for forever.” She turned back to him. “I’m kind of curious, though. If you knew you were going to be so busy, why’d you sign up for the play in the first place?”

“Oh. Well, that’s… sort of complicated? I actually didn’t know _how_ busy I was going to be back then, but uh…” He paused. Claire was giving him an intrigued look. Deciding it was best to get off of that particular topic, he went all in in a move Toby would probably proud of by saying, “Mostly because you asked.”

Claire processed that, and then blushed as she realized his meaning. “Oh.”

Jim shrugged, doing his best to play it cool, even though his face was warming up now too. “Yeah. But I’m glad I did. I really like the company.”

Claire’s blush deepened, and she smiled, a little flustered. “Thanks.”

Jim feigned surprise. “What? Oh, I meant Eli.”

Claire startled slightly, before registering his joking expression. She laughed and swatted him lightly on the arm for the trick. Jim laughed too, a knot of worry and tension seeming to loosen in his chest. Claire wasn’t mad anymore. That was—that was good. That was really, really good.

Their laughter died down, the atmosphere between them notably more comfortable. Claire seemed to consider something for a moment. “Hey, speaking of, have you heard about Eli?”

Jim racked his brain for any recent Eli related news, and came up blank. “No. What’s up?”

Claire’s expression took on a note of seriousness. “Apparently he saw goblins last night. _Inside_ the colony.” She made a general gesture to their surroundings for emphasis. “It’s why he’s not at rehearsal today. He’s talking to the council about it right now.”

Jim’s thoughts ground to a halt, the smile fading from his face. “Wait, what? Seriously?”

Claire nodded. “Yeah, insane right? From what I heard, he saw four of them really late last night. He told a guard right away.” She frowned, troubled. “I don’t think anyone really believes him though.”

“Well—I mean—” Jim’s mind was racing. Goblins? In the colony? Could it be possible? “Why not? Didn’t he see them?”

Claire shrugged, her expression unsure. “Well yeah, but nobody else has. Or at least nobody’s said anything. And everyone sort of agrees that if they were really here, someone else would’ve noticed something by now.”

“Yeah. That makes sense.” Jim agreed, but he felt unsure as well. There was this uneasy feeling growing in his gut. Even though he’d love to believe there weren’t really goblins inside the colony, Eli wasn’t the type to lie about that sort of thing. He had to have seen something.

“Sorry,” Claire said, interrupting his thoughts, “I didn’t mean to freak you out.”

“It’s okay, you didn’t.” He quickly assured. It was at least half-true. “It’s just… kind of surprising, I guess?” Surprising felt like a weak word, but he rolled with it, unable to come up with anything better. “He’s really sure he saw some?”

Claire bit her lip, thoughtful. “I think he definitely saw something. And things _have_ been getting a little crazier outside the colony lately. But I don’t know.” She looked to him. “Honestly, you’re around this kind of stuff more than I am. What do you think?”

Jim had a brief moment of internal panic at the claim, before realizing that Claire was referring to his scavenging duties, not to his recent immersion among trollkind now that he was Trollhunter. Which, duh, he probably should’ve known that in the first place, but things had been hectic lately and Claire somehow figuring out he was the Trollhunter seemed like just his luck.

Then he remembered she’d asked him a question. He struggled to come up with a good answer, and was unexpectedly saved when the doors to the theater burst open.

Everyone jumped, startled, Claire and him included. They both turned, and Jim was surprised to find it was Toby who’d thrown open the doors. His friend wasted no time in jogging over to him, despite being thoroughly out of breath.

“Mr. Domzalski!” Ms. Janeth said sharply.

Toby waved her off, desperately trying to catch his breath. “Sor—sorry, Ms. Janeth! Emergency. Jim!” Toby zeroed in on him, dodging around Ms. Janeth and finally clearing the distance between them. “Oh my gosh, I’ve been trying to find you all day. Let’s go!”

Jim was understandably confused. “Wha—go? What are you talking about? Dude, I’m still rehearsing—”

Toby grabbed Jim’s shoulders and looked him dead in the eye, and Jim cut himself off. “We need to go. Right now.” Toby said. “It’s… related to the thing… and stuff.”

“The thing?”

“And stuff.” Toby agreed seriously. “The very… important scavenging stuff?”

“Important scaven—oh.” It hit him all at once. “Oh! Right, okay, um…” Everyone in the theatre was giving them weird looks, Claire especially. Jim smiled awkwardly, and, mentally cursing bad timing, addressed her first, “Sorry, I need to—yeah.” Toby was already heading for the door. With little choice, Jim followed. Ms. Janeth was giving him the stink eye, so he quickly blurted, “ _Sorry Ms. Janeth, I have to go, right now, see you tomorrow!_ ” and hurried out the door before she could stop him.

He caught Claire’s bewildered look just before the door closed, and couldn’t help but wince.

“We need code words.” Toby told him when they were a safe distance from the building. “Seriously. And codenames too. I call Warhammer!”

“What the heck, Tobes, what was that all about? What’s going on?” Jim asked, confused out of his mind. (And maybe a tiny bit irritated, because Claire probably thought he was more of a flake than ever for leaving, even if rehearsal was almost over. Not to mention a little paranoid on top of that, because goblins in the colony were apparently a _thing_. Maybe. He hoped not.) “Also, yes on the code words, I’m pretty sure everyone thought we were insane.”

“Right?” Toby said, before shaking his head. “Anyway, you need to see this. Like, yesterday.”

“See _what_?”

“You’ll see!”

A frantic fast walk through the colony later, and Jim certainly did see.

And goblins in the colony apparently were a thing.

Fantastic.

“Please tell me that’s not what I think it is.” Jim groaned, stepping back from the bush currently concealing a _goblin corpse._ One that was definitely inside the colony, which meant Eli _had_ seen goblins in the colony, and that wasn’t good. At all.   “I would, but I’d be lying.” Toby said with an understanding cringe. “Unless you don’t think it’s a dead goblin, in which case—”

“Not the time, Tobes.”

“Right, right. Sorry.” Toby said. “What do we do? How’d it even get in here in the first place?”

“Better question,” Jim sighed wearily, “how did _they_ get in here?”

“I’m sorry, _what?_ ”

“Apparently, Eli saw goblins last night.” Jim said, briefly checking their surroundings for any eavesdroppers. “Four of them.”

“Wha—why hasn’t he told anybody?”

“He has! Nobody believes him.” Jim replied. “Something about goblins being more obvious than this, I guess? You know how the guards can be.”

“Yeah…” Toby agreed. They were quiet for a moment. “Should _we_ tell someone? I mean they’d probably believe us, since we’ve got, y’know,” Toby gestured to the bush, or more accurately put, the thing they were hiding in the bush, “evidence.”

That would be the logical thing to do. A past Jim probably would’ve. But something about this was nagging him. Mainly, how did four whole goblins get into the colony in the first place? One was understandable, two improbable, but possible. Four? Either a seriously freak accident occurred or…

Or someone let them in.

The thought left him uneasy. Who would willingly let goblins in, and why? Unless someone did so on accident, and then didn’t want to own up to it? Or did the goblins grant each other access, once one of them had gotten in? Could goblins do that?

Jim decided he didn’t have enough information. Luckily, he knew someone who did.

“C’mon,” Jim said, gesturing for Toby to follow him, “We need to talk to Blinky.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live!
> 
> To all the folks still reading this: this story is not dead. I've just been really busy and haven't had much time to write, and was dealing with a minor case writer's block on top of that, so... yeah. Sorry about that.
> 
> Once again, big thanks for all the kudos and comments! They always make my day!
> 
> Here's a double update for all you folks. Enjoy! :)

“Draal did _what?_ Why am I just now hearing about this?”

ARRRGH!!! shrugged helplessly. They were both in Blinky’s library, waiting for Tobias and Master Jim to join them. Blinky had been reading his borrowed human history book—he was almost finished, and wondering if he might convince Master Jim to bring him another—when ARRRGH!!! had arrived, looking deeply concerned. Apparently, Draal had been seen chasing Jim through Trollmarket the day prior.

“Just heard. Didn’t know either.”

“Oh, this is a mess.” Blinky muttered. He started to pace. “It must’ve been after… Of course, I should’ve realized he would retaliate somehow!”

ARRRGH!!! placed a hand on his shoulder, slowing him to a stop. “Blinky. Calm.” He soothed. “What happened?”

So Blinky explained how he and Master Jim had been in the middle of a lesson when Draal had stopped by for… whatever reason. (Now that he thought about it, there must’ve been some significant reason Draal had decided to pay him a visit. They hadn’t exactly been on friendly terms as of late.) How Jim had been without any disguise, and had barely managed to hide in time. How, once Jim had made his hasty escape, the whole thing had sparked a rather unpleasant argument between Blinky and Draal.

ARRRGH!!! listened, and looked steadily more troubled as Blinky went on. “Didn’t say anything.” He said, once Blinky had finished.

“Yes, well, I haven’t had the opportunity to tell you until now. I certainly planned on it.” Blinky sighed. “I knew Draal was upset, but I didn’t think he’d do something so… brash.” He shook his head. “Do you know if Master Jim is okay? What else happened?”

“Don’t know.” ARRRGH!!! admitted guiltily. He hesitated, before switching to Trollish to better convey his next thoughts. **_“No one knows. Just bits and pieces. Haven’t seen Draal today. Haven’t been able to ask.”_**

It’d been a while since Blinky had last had a full conversation in Trollish. Being around Master Jim and Tobias so much, he’d gotten into the habit of conversing mainly in English, for their sakes. He was fairly certain it was the same for ARRRGH!!!, even if Trollish came easier to him than English did. Thankfully, most trolls were bilingual, so the increased usage of the language wasn’t questioned, if anyone even noticed it at all.

 ** _“I’m sure he’s fine,”_** Blinky said, though his tone was uneasy, **_“I don’t believe Draal would actually do anything to him. Not until their fight, at least.”_**

ARRRGH!!! hummed in agreement, but his worried expression didn’t subside. Neither did Blinky’s.

 ** _“I suppose we shouldn’t dwell on it. We’ll find out what happened from Master Jim soon enough. Unless…”_** Blinky was struck by an unpleasant thought. The last time Draal had confronted Master Jim, their Trollhunter had nearly disappeared on them for good. What if this time, Draal really pushed him too far? What if—

It was about then that Master Jim and Tobias came skidding into the library.

Blinky startled at the abrupt appearance, before he was flooded with relief. **_“Master Jim! You’ve returned!”_** He blurted in Trollish, forgetting to switch back to English in the rush of the moment.

“What?” Master Jim said. He sounded out of breath. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Tobias—who was nearly doubled over next to Jim as he tried to catch his own breath—asked, “Why wouldn’t you what? What’d he say?”

“Ah, apologies, Tobias.” Blinky said, quickly switching back to English. “I was merely a bit… surprised at Master Jim’s speedy return to Trollmarket, considering yesterdays events, and was remarking on it.”

“Right. The Draal thing.” Tobias agreed, straightening. “Phew. Don’t worry, we avoided him.” He offered Jim a shaky high five. Jim, mindful of the armor, lightly returned it.

The response gave Blinky zero insight into the situation, which only served to alarm him more, as his imagination filled in the blanks. “Avoided him? Was he after you again? Is that why you’re so out of breath?”

“No, no.” Master Jim quickly assured. “Different reason. We just made sure Draal didn’t see us. Or, uh, me. I guess.”

“I was the lookout.” Tobias agreed, lifting his mask to offer them a tired smile. “Yay teamwork.”

“That’s… good, I suppose.” Blinky’s mind was swimming with questions now. If they weren’t running from Draal, then why were they running? What had happened yesterday? Had Master Jim been hurt? Had Draal figured something out? “We heard about yesterday. Are you alright, Master Jim?”

Master Jim shrugged, but the gesture was a little unsure. “Yeah, I’m fine. He never actually caught up with me.”

Blinky hadn’t expected that. “You mean to say you _outran_ Draal?”

“…I guess? It was close.” Master Jim admitted. “I managed to get up to the rooftops before he could grab me.” Blinky must’ve made a face, because Master Jim quickly added. “Don’t worry, I don’t think he saw anything.”

“Not that that really matters, if he saw you in the library.” Tobias pointed out.

“You think he saw you?” Blinky wondered.

“I mean, I don’t know.” Master Jim said. He seemed rightfully troubled by the idea. “Why was he chasing me if he didn’t?”

Ah. Well, that was something Blinky could answer. “Draal and I had a disagreement. It ended rather… explosively, suffice to say. My guess is he tracked you down soon after. I suppose he figured it might be easier to get answers out of you than me, or something along those lines.”

Master Jim relaxed, but only a tad. “Answers?”

“Draal may not know anything concrete, but he certainly suspects you of something.” Blinky sighed. “You may want to be careful around him.”

Jim laughed; it was a short, humorless sound. “Already planned on it.”

“I feel I should apologize,” Blinky continued, “Maybe if I’d handled the situation better—”

Master Jim waved him off. “Honestly, this is _way_ better than what I actually thought was going on, so don’t even worry about it. You did what you could, Blink.”

“Very well.” He accepted the assurance with a nod. Then he recalled another question he’d had. “I am still curious though, if you weren’t running here in an attempt to escape Draal, then why were you? You said there was a different reason?”

Master Jim and Tobias shared a look. “Okay, so…”

They explained.

 

* * *

 

 

Jim had had a plan.

Maybe it wasn’t the bravest of plans, but it was a plan and it would’ve worked. Probably. He’d hoped.

Not that it really mattered, since it never actually happened.

The plan that never came to be was this: he and Toby, after learning what they needed to from Blinky about the goblins, would return to the colony and report the goblin they’d found to the guards. During this report, Jim would casually pass on any extra knowledge the guards may need about goblins, with the excuse that he’d picked it up scavenging. The guards would then track down the remaining goblins, as well as investigate whatever freak accident had lead to them entering the colony in the first place.

The plan would account for all the immediate concerns Jim had about the goblin situation, with the added bonus of minimal involvement on his part. Not that he was totally averse to getting involved, but Trollhunter-ing it up within colony bounds just wasn’t something he wanted to do unless he absolutely had to. All it would take was one person recognizing the armor, and things would get complicated, fast. Better not to risk it.

So, obviously, he only got as far as the “get information from Blinky” part before his whole plan was completely derailed.

He and Toby had carefully divulged what the problem was: they’d found a dead goblin back home, there were probably a few others, and they needed more information to better assess the situation.

“Merely a few? As in three or four?” Blinky had questioned with a note of disbelief. Which Jim hadn’t understood, until he finished with, “Master Jim, Tobias, you are aware that that is highly unlikely, aren’t you?”

Uh, no, they had not been. What?

Blinky, never one to miss an educational opportunity, quickly set them straight. Apparently, goblins thrived in hordes; where one lurked, many were sure to follow. Jim had sort of known that? Like, he’d known that goblins could exist in hordes, but he hadn’t realized it was almost always guaranteed. And then he’d imagined that many goblins in the colony and—

“No.”

Blinky and ARRRGH!!! stared at him, bewildered. “I’m sorry?” Blinky said.

“No.” Jim repeated with a shake of his head. “That’s not possible.”

It couldn’t be. If there were that many goblins in the colony they’d have known by now. Someone would’ve _noticed._ And if it turned out there were, and no one had, then…

Then something really bad was happening. The thought made him uneasy.

“…Confused.” ARRRGH!!! admitted after a moment, snapping Jim out of his dark spiral of thoughts.

“As am I.” Blinky agreed, skeptical. “Master Jim, is this some form of denial? Because I assure you—”

Toby came to his rescue. “No, Jim’s right.” He said. “There’s no way. That’s too many goblins. Like, way way too many.”

“You sound quite certain.” Blinky noted. “Am I missing something?”

He and Toby shared a glance, then. Not long after they were quietly explaining the colony’s protective barrier to the trolls. Blinky was quick to grow invested in the explanation, and Jim couldn’t really blame him. Even though he and Toby had started trusting them with a lot more information, home was something they rarely discussed, especially in regards to specific details like the Barrier.

Jim could practically see the wheels in Blinky’s head turning. “How intriguing! Yes, I suppose that could be an extenuating circumstance…”

“Uh, could be? How about totally is?” Toby protested.

Blinky tsked. “Nothing in life is a hundred percent, Tobias. No magical barrier is completely impenetrable, though your’s does sound formidable.” Blinky rubbed at his chin, thoughtful. “What do you plan to do?”

Jim shrugged. “We have guards who deal with this sort of thing. I guess we were just going to tell them and let them handle it.”

Blinky frowned. “Then why bother coming to me at all? You could’ve just done that right away.”

That was true, and it had him hesitating with his next response. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Well, then why didn’t you?”

“I mean—I don’t—” Jim sighed, his reasoning feeling ridiculous, all of a sudden. “I don’t know, something just felt… off.”

Blinky latched onto that. “Off? Off how?”

“It just—it didn’t make sense, I guess?” He struggled to find a good way to explain it, and failed. “It was a feeling I had, that’s all.”

“I see.” Blinky mused. There wasn’t a trace of doubt in his expression, which was unexpected. “Then we should look into this. Er, we as in you, the Trollhunter, of course.”

Jim blinked, startled. “Um, what? Why? I just told you the guards could handle it.”

“Yes. You also told me you felt something was off about the whole thing, and so you came here.” Blinky pointed out. “You can, of course, still tell these guards if you wish. But you should trust your instincts as well, and investigate this. At least until you determine whether or not this feeling of yours holds any merit.”

“Good to trust instinct.” ARRRGH!!! added. “Can save life.”

Blinky nodded, pleased. “Precisely, old friend.”

Jim chewed that over. Mr. Strickler had told him something similar once, though in relation to scavenging.

“Okay so… new plan, then!” Toby said. “We tell the guards, and then stake out the traders camp tonight. You said goblins are all about revenge and stuff, right Blinky?” Blinky nodded. “Cool! Or, uh, not cool for the guy they’re trying to get revenge on, but cool for us. If they’re gonna show up anywhere again, it’ll probably be there, right?”

“Good thinking, Tobias!” Blinky praised, and Toby grinned happily. “What do you think, Master Jim?”

He couldn’t find any problem with it. They’d still tell the guards, and his involvement as Trollhunter would still be pretty minimal. Plus, getting the chance to look into this himself would probably make him feel better about the whole thing in the long run. “Sure, why not?”

“Sweet! Stake out!” Toby cheered.

Blinky smiled, nodding, before faltering all of sudden. He seemed to realize something. “Hold on a moment. We should—hm.” Blinky considered them, as if he was weighing his options.

“What is it?” Jim asked. If something was wrong he wanted to know.

“I have a concern.” Blinky began carefully. “Being that this is—well, this _is_ your first time dealing with goblins, correct?”

“Um…” Jim thought back to the goblin he’d run into in the woods back when he was fourteen, and how swiftly he’d about-faced and booked it in the opposite direction. Yeah, that probably didn’t count. “Yes.”

“As I thought.” Blinky nodded, mostly to himself. “Very well. Given that this is the case, I don’t think it would be… wise, to leave you two to deal with this on your own. Not that I doubt your capabilities, of course! And you’re certainly welcome to decline, but, well, do think it might be safer if either ARRRGH!!! or myself accompanied you, for this mission?”

Jim sort of froze, for a second, completely blindsided by the offer. His brain switched to autopilot, flooding with frantic thoughts of _no, no, no, protect the colony, no one can know—_

Unexpectedly, it was Toby who spoke up first. “That’s… probably a bad idea?”

Jim blinked rapidly, snapping out of it. He glanced between Toby and Blinky and ARRRGH!!!. The two trolls didn’t seem surprised, or even disappointed. They just nodded, solemnly understanding. And just like that, Jim felt incredibly ashamed of his ingrained reaction. This was Blinky and ARRRGH!!!, they weren’t going to do anything. Still, there were other factors to consider…

“Tobes is right. Not for the reason you're thinking, though.” Jim quickly explained, regaining Blinky and ARRRGH!!!’s attention. “There’s—it wouldn’t be safe. For you guys, I mean. If anyone caught us…”

The disastrous scenario played out in his mind’s eye. He shuddered.

“Oh.” Blinky said, the realization lightening his expression. “That’s understandable.”

“But maybe—” Jim was making the offer before his brain had even fully processed it, partially out of guilt, and partially because he really _did_ trust Blinky and ARRRGH!!!, knee-jerk reactions to protect the colony and all the people in it aside. “Maybe you guys could just be nearby instead? That way you can still help us if something goes wrong.”

Everyone stared at him in surprise, even Toby. He shifted uncomfortably. “What?”

“Are you sure, Master Jim?” Blinky asked tentatively. “We would be glad to, of course! But only if the both of you were truly comfortable with the idea.”

Jim shrugged. He knew where he stood on this. “Tobes?”

Toby blinked, snapping out of whatever daze he’d fallen into. Then he beamed at the two trolls without any hesitation. “Yeah, duh, we trust you guys!” Toby assured. “I think it’s a great idea!”

Blinky and ARRRGH!!! brightened considerably at that. “Thank you.” ARRRGH!!! rumbled happily.

“It’s no big deal, wingman.” Toby said, though he was practically bubbling with excitement. “So, new new plan. I’ll go tell the guards what’s up. Jimbo, you stay here. It’d suck to make two trips and you’re better at navigating at night than I am. I’ll meet up with you later. Sound good?”

“Okay.” Jim agreed, finding no problems with that. “Can you make it back on your own?”

Toby puffed up with confidence. “Course I can, Jimbo. I totally got this. We’re gonna rock this plan, just watch! It’ll be awesome-sauce!”

 

* * *

 

 

Oh, this was _so_ not awesome-sauce.

Toby dug through the bushes for about the third time in five minutes, no longer caring if he seemed like a maniac. This was the place it had been, he was sure of it! Except is was gone. Poof! As if it’d never been there in the first place.

Had someone moved it? That had to be it, there was no other explanation. But who? And why? Did they alert the colony already, whoever they were? That wouldn’t be too bad, if that’s what happened. It was what Toby had come back to do, after all.

Toby finally abandoned the bushes, pretty sure at this point that the dead goblin wasn’t there anymore. Only one way to find out…

“Uh, hey! Hey, excuse me!” Toby asked the first person he came across, with a nervous smile. Said person just happened to be Gladys Groe, his new dental hygienist. “Oh hi, Ms. Groe! I was just wondering, have you heard anything else about that goblin thing? Like, did anyone find any proof or…”

Gladys eyed him a moment, subtly readjusting a bag she was carrying over her shoulder. Toby absently wondered what was in it, before deciding it was probably just supplies she’d gotten from the traders, since she seemed to have come from that same area.

“Nope. Not that I’ve heard.” Gladys finally answered. Then she promptly continued on her way.

Toby blinked, watching her go. “Okay…”

He asked a few more people, just to be sure. All their answers were pretty much the same, which sucked. Because unless the guards were trying to keep things under wraps to prevent panic or something, that meant their only proof of the goblins was gone, and no one even knew said proof had existed to begin with. If he and Jim reported it now, they’d be treated about the same as Eli!

No, probably even worse, because they’d have to explain why the goblin corpse was gone, and why they didn’t say anything the moment they’d found it. And then everyone would get all suspicious, and they could start to investigate them and find out they were hanging out with trolls and _they’d be banished_ —

Toby took a breath. Phew. Okay. They could deal with this. It wasn’t like they _had_ to tell the guards anything. Not telling them just wasn’t very… ideal. Then again, he and Jim were staking out in the traders’ camp that night, so maybe it wouldn’t be a problem! Jim would Trollhunter it up and everything would be fixed, no guards required!

Jim wasn’t going to be too happy about that, though. Toby wasn’t all that thrilled about it either. But hey, sometimes you just had to roll with it. Toby was good at rolling with things. He never would’ve ended up chilling with Jim and Blinky and ARRRGH!!! at Trollmarket almost everyday if he wasn’t.

“Right. We got this.” He muttered to himself, heading home to prepare for the night ahead. “We got this, we got this, we got this…”

(Then again, they ended up fleeing from a whole horde of goblins a few hours later, so maybe they didn’t.)


	17. Chapter 17

Apparently their evidence had disappeared.

(“How’s it just gone?” He’d asked, incredulous.

“I don’t know, dude, it just is!”)

So that was great.

In the end, there wasn’t really all that much they could do about it, besides continue with their plan to stake out the trader’s camp. A plan they needed to enact now more than ever, since they wouldn’t be able to get the guards involved without raising some seriously damning questions.

They waited until pretty much everyone at the camp had gone to sleep for the night, and then snuck in, unseen. They headed for the general area they’d found the dead goblin in, and managed to find a nice spot to stake out behind the bushes. They settled there, both on full alert.

Time passed sluggishly, and it wasn’t long before Jim came to the realization that, wow, stake outs were boring. And uncomfortable. His legs kept falling asleep.

With nothing else to do, he and Toby decided to fill the time with whispered conversation.

“So, what’d you do in Trollmarket while you were waiting?” Toby asked.

“Lessons and training, mostly.” He replied, while quietly shifting positions in an effort to stretch his stiff muscles. “Fun fact: Trollish tongue twisters are even worse than regular ones.”

“Dude, _what_?”

He sighed. “Blinky thinks they’ll help with my pronunciation. _I_ think I just sound ridiculous trying to do them.”

“Nah, you’re probably fine, Jimbo.” Toby assured. “Can you do one now?”

Jim made a face. “No thank you.”

“Aw, c’mon, it’ll be fun.”

“…Maybe later.” Jim relented, and Toby cheered silently at the sort of success.

“Cool! And how did training go? Learn any awesome new moves?”

Jim shrugged. “Not really, but I think I’m getting better? Or at least Blinky says I am.” He still didn’t feel anywhere near ready for his fight with Draal, though. And speaking of, “Draal came by near the end.”

Toby’s eyes went wide. “What happened?”

“Nothing.” Jim said, and Toby’s face shuttered in surprise. “Right? He barely even looked at me, just passed through with a couple of his buddies. It was like nothing happened.”

“Well… _that’s_ not creepy at all.” Toby shot him a concerned look. “What’re you gonna do?”

He sighed. That was the question, wasn’t it. “I don’t know, just keep avoiding him I guess. At least until the fight.”

Toby considered that for a moment. “You worried about that? The fight, I mean.”

“I think we both already know the answer to that.” His shoulders slumped. “Honestly I’m just… trying not to think about it too much. I’ll just psych myself out if I do.”

“That’s fair.” Toby agreed with a nod. “But seriously, you _have_ gotten better since you last fought him. Don’t give me that look, I mean it. I’ve seen you, Jimbo, you’re good at dodging all those flames and pointy objects.”

“Yeah, but I need to do more than dodge and block if I want to win.” Jim muttered, thoughtful. “And it’s not like any of the self-defense stuff I _do_ know would work that good on trolls.” Heck, it hadn’t always worked that great on humans.

Toby nudged him playfully. “Hey, there’s always rule number three.”

That startled a laugh out of him. “Yeah, I guess that’s true.” 

They were quiet for a little bit.

Then, “See anything yet?”

Jim shook his head. “Nope.”

“Figures.” Toby paused for a beat. “What do you think Blinky and ARRRGH!!! are doing?”

Jim shrugged. “Probably the exact same thing we’re doing, I guess.”

“So… nothing.”

Jim stifled a snicker. “Yeah. Exactly.” He was about to continue with something else, when there was a noise. He froze, listening intently. It’d been quiet but…

There it was again. The briefest snatch of strange, skittering movement.

Toby had gone still too. “You heard that right?” He said, just under his breath. Jim nodded.

They waited, watching the camp intensely. For the first time that night, they didn’t have to wait long.

“There.” Jim whispered, catching sight of a spindly figure crawling over the top of a nearby cart. The figure paused, perching where it was for a second as it scanned the camp. Its eyes locked onto something, and Jim was just able to make out the goblin’s vicious grin before it skittered down to the ground, out of sight.

Jim tried to find it again, but was interrupted when Toby shook him by the shoulder. “Look. Jim, _look._ ” Toby hissed, pointing. Jim looked, and found two more weaving their way through the encampment, making a beeline to the same cart the first had been eyeing.

Okay, so that was three. That was all of them, right?

There was movement in the tree above them, and Jim froze. Sensing that Toby was about to speak, he quickly shoved a hand over his friends mouth. Toby flinched, surprised, and Jim gestured for him to be quiet.

Slowly, he looked up. He paled.

Two more—no, _three_ more were lurking in the tree branches above them. Thankfully, they hadn’t noticed Jim and Toby. Yet.

Goblins could smell fear, couldn’t they? With this in mind, he did his very best to shove down the cold terror winding its way through his chest. It was fine. Six goblins was _weird,_ but it wasn’t impossible to deal with—

Toby was suddenly clutching at his arm. “Jim.” He said, so silently he almost didn’t hear him at all. His eyes were wide. “Oh my god, _Jim._ ”

A sinking feeling in his gut, he followed Toby’s stare. Suddenly, the fear was a lot more difficult to suppress.

Goblins. So many goblins. They were flooding the encampment, all cackling and chattering quietly as they scurried under, over, through and around any obstacles in their way. For a second, his shocked brain tried to keep count. He gave up on that pretty quickly though.

There had to be hundreds of them.

Only his training as a scavenger, and maybe a little bit of his training as Trollhunter, kept his brain from outright shutting down at the sight. Still, he felt numb. Disbelieving. How had this happened? _This wasn’t supposed to happen._

Next to him, Toby was sort of screaming silently, always the external freak out to Jim’s internal. His grip on Jim’s arm was so tight it almost hurt. _“AHHH! How?! Why? What do we do, ohmygod!”_ He hissed frantically.

“I don’t know.” He mumbled, his senses slowly returning to him. Panic was clawing its way up his throat and he desperately tried to swallow it down. Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid; the thought echoed on repeat in his head, a sharp juxtaposition to Trollhunting rule number one. “Don’t be afraid.”

Toby’s eyes darted to him, confused. “What?”

“Don’t be afraid.” He repeated. He almost sounded, calm, ha! “Goblins smell fear.”

“Right.” Toby agreed, staring at the goblin horde descending on the camp. “Who’s afraid? Not me, haha… ha…”

Jim only nodded, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight before him. The goblins all seemed to be heading towards that one cart and—wait.

A chill went down his spine, as he remembered. The goblins were here for _revenge_. If they didn’t do something, someone was going to die.

He cursed, eyes widening even more. Crap, this was bad. This was—they had to do something! But what? His mind raced, trying to come up with something, anything. He doubted he could actually fight off that many goblins, not to mention the attention activating the armor might attract, but maybe…

He cringed. Oh. Oh that was a horrible idea.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to come up with a better one. “Tobes.” He said, softly but urgently. “Never mind. Be very afraid. Get ready to run.”

Toby turned to him so fast he must’ve gotten whiplash. “ _What?_ Jim, but you just said—wait, what are you doing—Jim!”

“Sorry.” He said, and he meant it. He picked up a rock, eyeing the goblins still perched in the tree above them. He took a second to breathe, and aim, and then—

THWACK! He hit a goblin right between the eyes. It screeched, tumbling out of the tree and splattering on the ground the instant it made contact.

And just like that, all eyes were on them. The goblins stared, gaping at their fallen comrade, and then at the two humans that had somehow snuck into their midst. Nobody moved.

…Yeah, he was already regretting this.

“Waka chacka!” One goblin finally declared, its shock morphing into anger. “WAKA CHAKA!”

Jim didn’t wait around to see anything else. He grabbed Toby’s arm and _ran._

 

* * *

 

 

Blinky wasn’t good at waiting. It wasn’t long after Master Jim had left them that he took up pacing their little section of the forest. Just through the trees, he could glimpse the hills Master Jim had disappeared into. Curiosity gnawed at him as he wondered about the settlement hidden there.

Did it resemble the Upper City in any way? He imagined it was more spread out, simply because it could be, given that humans didn’t need to worry about the dangers of the sun. None of the clustered buildings and numerous sunshades of an aboveground trollish city. What did they sell in their markets? How did housing work? What other books existed in their library?

ARRRGH!!! merely watched him as he paced and muttered, very used to such behavior, and even amused by it. Unlike Blinky, he was much more content with waiting.

Though he did make sure Blinky never paced too far, wisely heeding a warning Master Jim had given them about how their settlement’s protective barrier worked. It wasn’t as obvious and physical as Trollmarket’s, but in fact more of a mental magic.

“Try not to get too close.” Master Jim had instructed. “You’ll get lost.”

An order which had both baffled and intrigued Blinky, considering the hills were very sparse and open; decidedly not an area you could get easily lost in. Master Jim had to think about how to explain it for a moment.

“It’s like… you get confused.” He tried. “It messes with your head, so you don’t no which way’s which, or where you came from or where you’re trying to go, and it only gets worse the closer you get to the colony. It’ll keep steering you away, and if you’re lucky you’ll end up roughly where you started. If not…”

Master Jim didn’t need to say anything else. Blinky got the gist of it.

“Has this ever happened to you?” Blinky asked. He was fairly sure he knew the answer, but didn’t want to make assumptions about the Barrier’s inner workings.

“Hm? Oh, no. I was born there. Once you’ve entered the colony, you’re immune to the effects. But I’ve seen it happen before.”

Blinky, of course, had more questions, but Master Jim still had to meet with Tobias, so he put them aside. Hopefully he and Master Jim would be able to discuss this later, among other things. There was so much left to learn!

And speaking of learning, he was starting to wish he’d brought a book to read, because this was most definitely dragging on. How long did it take for a few goblins to act? Both Jim and Tobias had assured them that they’d sneak back out and share how it’d gone once the issue was dealt with.

“How do you suppose it’s going?” Blinky finally asked, hoping to fill the time.

ARRRGH!!! thought about it. “Probably fine.” He decided.

It was around then that Master Jim and Tobias came bursting through the tree-line at a full sprint. Blinky and ARRRGH!!! jolted in surprise, staring after them with equally bewildered expressions.

“Run!” Master Jim shouted back. “They’re after us!”

“Who is—” Blinky turned, and his jaw dropped. A whole horde of goblins were charging their way. “Great Gronka Morka!”

“Blinky!” ARRRGH!!! exclaimed urgently, pulling him along after the two fleeing humans. It didn’t take long for them to catch up.

“What happened?” Blinky asked, urgently trying to grasp the whole situation.

“Jim killed a goblin!” Tobias helpfully blurted.

“On _purpose?_ ” Blinky wondered incredulously. Master Jim’s following cringe was answer enough. “Master Jim! What did I tell you!”

“They were going to kill someone, what was I supposed to do!” Master Jim protested.

“Well, not purposefully draw goblin revenge for one—”

“Scold—later!” Tobias butted in, breathless. “Run now! Agh!”

The boy stumbled, the momentum of his run working against him and sending him flailing to the ground. Master Jim skidded to stop, frantic. “Tobes!”

Blinky cursed; the goblin horde was closing in! Thankfully ARRRGH!!! was on top of it, finally slowing enough to double back for them. Blinky waited anxiously as his old friend first snagged Jim, and then Tobias, throwing both of them onto his back and escaping the clutches of the goblin horde at the very last second.

“Good thinking, ARRRGH!!!” Blinky praised, glancing nervously back at the goblins ceaselessly pursuing them. “Though I don’t believe we can outrun them forever. We need a refuge!” But where could they find such a thing out here…

“Wait!” Master Jim suddenly cried, eyes lighting up with realization. “Wait, wait, wait, I know a place! Hold on, um—” Master Jim frantically scanned their surroundings, no doubt trying to discern precisely where they were. “There!” He finally said, pointing. “Hook a right, there!”

The abrupt turn nearly toppled the two boys off ARRRGH!!!’s back, but they managed to hold on. Master Jim regained his bearings quickly, rattling off directions like their lives depended on it. Blinky supposed they sort of did.

The route they took was winding, almost non-sensical. Blinky would’ve questioned Master Jim’s navigational ability, if the boy hadn’t looked so completely confident in his directions. Still, he came close with every bush they had to plow through. At the very least, the terrain slowed the goblins a little too, but only a little. If this kept up much longer, Blinky didn’t like their chances.

“Here!” Master Jim exclaimed. “Stop, stop!”

ARRRGH!!! did, stumbling from the suddenness of it. Master Jim barely noticed, already leaping off of ARRRGH!!!’s shoulder and scrambling towards an almost innocuous looking hollow nestled in the earth between two trees. He pried at the branches and leaves filling it, and for a brief moment, Blinky thought, _our Trollhunter’s gone mad._

And then those leaves and branches shifted as Master Jim yanked open what was unmistakably a door! Coming to his senses, Blinky obeyed Master Jim’s frantic gestures to enter and ducked inside without a second thought. Stairs, there were stairs. He staggered down them, clearing the way for Tobias to enter, and then ARRRGH!!!—and that was certainly a close fit—and finally Master Jim.

Jim threw the door closed behind them, just as Blinky glimpsed the tell-tale green of goblins outside. He could hear them scratching angrily at the door, trying to pry it back open, but Jim held fast to it with one hand. The other reached for a rather heavy duty looking lock system, only to snap back to the door’s handle when the goblins nearly yanked it open.

“Crap!” Master Jim cursed, voice edged with growing panic. “I can’t get the lock!”

Blinky startled, before squeezing past ARRRGH!!! and joining Master Jim at the door. He put his lower hands to use helping Jim keep the door shut, while his upper two worked the locks into place. A few, tense moments later, and the door was secure.

He waited, to be sure it would hold, before slowly releasing his grip on the door handle. “There. I think that should do it.”

Next to him, Master Jim slumped in relief. “Thanks.”

They all stood in silence for a moment, catching their breaths and listening to the goblins furiously attacking the door outside.

“So,” Tobias said, breaking the silence, “can anyone find a light switch? Cause I can barely see anything in here.”

“Sorry, this is one of the older bunkers. I don’t think they’ve installed anything like that yet.” Master Jim replied, carefully moving away from the door. “Let me just—” He pulled out the amulet. “You guys might want to close your eyes for a sec. For the glory of Merlin—”

Blinky had the sense to heed the warning and close all six of his eyes before Jim activated the armor, saving himself from the sudden bright flash. When he re-opened them, the corridor they were in was cast in a familiar blue glow. Not that he or ARRRGH!!! had needed the extra light; it’d been dim, but they could make out enough.

Something to note for later, he supposed. They’d just have to do their best to stay near light sources when they were around other trolls, because Blinky wasn’t entirely sure how to explain away a lack of night vision. Then again, the natural glow of the armor might be enough for any such eventuality…

Master Jim started down the stairs. “C’mon, there should be some lanterns somewhere too.”

Blinky refocused on the situation. More specifically, the unexpected sanctuary Master Jim had led them to. He followed the group the rest of the way down the stairs, into a decent sized room. As far as underground dwellings went, it wasn’t much, a bit crudely carved out even. Though it was stable, and he supposed that was all that mattered in this case.

One corner of the room was occupied by counters and cupboard space, and another by a table and chairs. At the very center was an unlit hearth; a pile of lightly rotted wood was stacked against a wall nearby. There wasn’t much else beyond that, besides what looked to be another door near the back. It was all very utilitarian.

“May I ask where we are?” He said, as ARRRGH!!! wandered further in to investigate.

“A bunker.” Master Jim replied, from where he and Tobias were poking around in the cabinets. “The colony built a bunch of these a while back, for people they can’t grant entrance to. Though I guess there are some that were around before that…”

“Like this one, probably.” Tobias pointed out.

Master Jim nodded in agreement. “Probably.”

“But why wouldn’t certain humans be granted access?” Blinky wondered, because that was unexpected. Given humanity’s current state, and the overall safety this colony could provide, he would’ve bet on the opposite occurring. An overpopulation issue, perhaps? That could make sense, given the limited confines of their protective Barrier. Or maybe…

“It’s not safe.” Tobias answered simply, effectively negating Blinky’s first theory. “Oh hey, I found the matches!”

“No lanterns though.” Master Jim said with a disappointed sigh, shutting the last cupboard. “Someone probably took them.”

“Rude.”

“Hold on a moment, could we go back to that?” Blinky said, gesturing for them to stop. “In what way would it not be safe?”

Master Jim shot him a puzzled look. “You are reading that history book I lent you, right?”

“Of course! I’m almost finished, actually. Though I don’t…” He trailed off, recalling the latest section he’d read.

It had discussed the end of the war, or at least, the end of the humans’ direct involvement in it. The war itself would continue on for almost a dozen years after, before reaching its true conclusion in the Battle of Killahead.

The humans, suffering great losses, had had no choice but to flee to distant lands, where they’d hoped to be safe from the reaches of the Gumm-Gumms and the ravages of war. A great many set sail for the west. It was a move that would’ve guaranteed their safety, if not for one unfortunate fact.

Their plans were discovered. A small fleet of Gumm-Gumms were dispatched to follow them. (Which, Blinky was quite pleased to admit, solved an age-old debate as to why they’d found a small number of Gumm-Gumms wandering America when they themselves arrived later on.) Assisting this fleet with its mission were…

“Changelings.” He realized. It was the only thing that made sense. “They’re still a problem for you?”

Master Jim and Tobias went very, very quiet.

And it was no wonder, really, because changelings had played a significant role in humanity’s downfall. It was changeling spies that had worked to cripple humanity’s fighting forces, back during the war. Hiding amongst them and sabotaging their plans, stealing their weapons, and leading them into traps. By the time the humans even realized the danger lurking right under their noses, it was far, far too late.

Blinky had known all this, even before he’d borrowed the history book from Master Jim, though the book did provide him with more detail. What he hadn’t known, however, was the sheer chaos they’d caused after humankind fled west.

One could argue it was even worse than what’d happened back during the war. At least then, the humans had known there was an enemy to worry about. It wasn’t so, when they finally reached the New World; they were sure they had escaped, that they’d reached a place of peace and safety.

Then, just as they’d begun to settle down, the changelings among them made their move. Surviving groups were attacked in the dead of night, and any who attempted to fight back found their weapons gone. It didn’t take them long to determine the culprit, this time around. Sadly, the knowledge hindered more than it helped.

Paranoia ran rampant. No one was sure of who could be trusted. Groups scattered, and the Gumm-Gumms followed, happily picking off them and any other native peoples they happened to come across. The human population dwindled and dwindled, no clear end to the horror in sight.

Just reading about it had had Blinky chilled. It’d hit him just how close humanity had come to actual extinction. If things had gone differently, if humankind had attempted to make a final stand instead of going into hiding, they very well might not have survived.

Of course, he knew there were still changelings around today, but to think. They were still that much of a threat? Or was this an inherent paranoia left over from traumatic events of the past? Both seemed plausible, but…

He observed Master Jim and Tobias. Their expressions were nothing short of grim, at that moment. Blinky really hadn’t been acquainted with them for all that long, now that he thought about it, but he felt like he was growing to know them quite well, nonetheless.

These two were not the type to fear things senselessly. If that were the case, he doubted very much that he and ARRRGH!!! would’ve grown aquatinted with them at all. So if they considered changelings to be a significant threat, then changelings were a significant threat. To humankind, at the very least.

(Though the revelation did bring to mind the potential threat changelings could pose to troll kind as well…)

Something occurred to him, suddenly.

“Master Jim, when you told me something felt off to you about this whole goblin issue,” he asked carefully, “is this what you meant? Do you suspect—”

“No!” The answer was immediate, effectively ending the dismal silence the two humans had fallen into. Something sharp and _scared_ sparked in Jim’s eyes for the briefest of seconds. “They can’t—I mean—” Tobias placed a hand on his friend’s arm, almost entirely automatically. Jim cut himself off, and took a few steadying breaths. The panic and denial faded, and Jim’s lips twisted into frown. That grim expression was back.

“…Yeah,” Master Jim finally answered, voice quiet with dread. “I guess that is what I meant.”

Tobias glanced at him, his expression hesitant. “I don’t know, dude, maybe there’s another explanation? There—there has to be, right? Nothing’s happened yet!”

“Yet.” Jim repeated. He looked sick. Tobias, despite his hopeful conjecture, held a very similar expression.

“But… just goblins.” ARRRGH!!! finally spoke up. Blinky was glad for it, because he wasn’t sure he could stand to look at the dawning horror in the boys’ expressions for much longer. “Not changelings.”

“This is true!” Blinky agreed, suddenly very desperate for it to be so. His imagination was conjuring all sorts of different scenarios around the possibility of changeling invasion, and none of them were pleasant. For all his supposed conspiracies, he did not wish for these ones to be true. “How do we know for sure that this even directly correlates with changelings infiltrating this colony of yours? It could, as ARRRGH!!! said, just be goblins.”

“Blinky that’s—you did see how many goblins there were, right?” Master Jim stressed. “I mean, how could that many goblins be hanging around the colony without anyone noticing if there isn’t someone—I don’t know, covering it up I guess?”

“And someone had to let them in too, right?” Tobias added. “Like, how else would that many get past the Barrier in the first place?”

These were valid points, and Tobias and Master Jim probably knew the ins and outs of their home better than Blinky did, but still. “Goblins _are_ fairly intelligent creatures. It’s possible one or two could’ve gotten in, and then figured out how to grant entrance to others.” He suggested, tapping his chin as he thought. “And as for them not being noticed… Well, whose to say their nest is even located within your colony’s confines?”

Both Master Jim and Tobias paused, considering that.

Tobias was the first to respond. “I guess that’s true.” Some of the dread in his expression was fading. “I mean, they could just be coming and going. And no one’s noticed them because they’re not there all the time, and the only reason they were all there tonight was because of the whole revenge thing!” The more he spoke, the more hopeful Tobias seemed.

Master Jim’s expression had lightened a little as well, though his optimism seemed more cautious as he thought it all over. “Maybe…” He muttered, seemingly more to himself than anyone else.

Blinky was fairly certain he understood why. “Of course, that’s not to say we shouldn’t look into the possibility of a changeling invasion. It could be quite disastrous to simply assume, even if the thought does provide some peace of mind.”

Master Jim blinked, looking to Blinky. “We?” He echoed, surprised.

Blinky was almost offended. “Well yes, of course! Did you think we would leave you to deal with such a mess on your own?”

“I—no, I didn’t, I just… uh…” Master Jim sputtered, at a loss for words.

“Thank you.” Tobias interrupted. His voice was bursting with sincerity. “You guys are awesome.”

Blinky was quite certain he’d never felt so proud of himself in his life. If ARRRGH!!!’s expression was anything to go by, then he was sure his old friend felt very much the same.

“Always help friends.” ARRRGH!!! assured. “Won’t let bad things happen.”

A series of emotions flitted across Master Jim’s face, so fast Blinky wasn’t able to catch most of them. The look of relief it eventually settled on was impossible to miss though. “Okay.” He said, tension dropping completely from his shoulders. “I—thanks, guys.”

“No need for that, Master Jim, Tobias.” Blinky assured. “You’ve decided to help us trolls by accepting the mantle of Trollhunter, so really the least we can do is return the favor and help you in turn. If you’ll allow us to, that is.”

“No, yes, definitely!” Master Jim quickly agreed. “I mean—we could probably use all the help we can get at this point, honestly. If it really _is_ changelings…” Master Jim grimaced.

“We’ll deal with it when we get there.” Tobias decided, giving Jim a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Goblins first.”

“A good idea, Tobias.” Blinky said. And speaking of goblins… “Listen. I believe the commotion outside has ceased. The goblins may have given up. For the time being, that is.”

“Right.” Tobias said with a nervous laugh. He glanced to Blinky. “So, like, about that whole revenge thing. Are me and Jim…”

Tobias didn’t need to finish the question. “Ah, yes. That. Thank you for reminding me, Tobias.” Blinky turned to Master Jim, who froze under Blinky’s narrowed gaze, much like a child who was caught doing something they shouldn’t have. “So. Master Jim. Shall we discuss, once more, what one should and shouldn’t do when it comes to goblins? Namely, not making yourself a target for an entire _horde_ when you have little to no experience in dealing with them?”

“Um…” Master Jim tried, offering Blinky a sheepish smile, “Is no an option here?”

“No,” Blinky disagreed, quite cheerily, “it is not.”


End file.
